


Confidants by Night

by LegacyWeapon



Category: Vampyr (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood Drinking, Blood Kink, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, M/M, Pre-Slash, Slow Build, Vampire Hunters, Vampires, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-05-31 23:48:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15130412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegacyWeapon/pseuds/LegacyWeapon
Summary: A sequel to the main story with minor changes to the canon.When the vampire epidemic is resolved, Jonathan is forced cope with the fallout of losing those close to him.McCullum might make it suck a bit less.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All majors character deaths are possible in-game.
> 
> This is also my first story, so I hope it goes well.

Walking into an obvious ambush wasn’t high on his preferred manners of conflict resolution, but Reid felt a slight satisfaction in looking down, literally, even, on the hunched form of Geoffrey McCullum. At least now the vampire hunter was incapacitated enough that words might reach his ears. Rather, that would be the case with men more sensible.

“There is no escape, leech. Kill me now, for there is no way you can sway me to your ideals.”

Christ, if this man didn’t grate on his nerves like nothing else. He felt anything he did at this point would be vindicated by the sheer amount of stubbornness endured thus far. Hell, he could even force McCullum to turn, to become the very thing he despises the most. It would be a fitting fate for someone so lost to reason. And yet, a nagging voice of his own reason still pulled him back.

_Vindicated, perhaps, but entirely vindictive…_

Jonathan reached out to grab the other’s neck. The grip firm but relaxed enough that the motion to make McCullum face him was more of a suggestion. And in his exhausted state, he didn’t bother to resist. Jonathan would have spent more time admiring the handsome visage in his hand, if not for the current situation. Instead, he decided to take the last statement as a challenge.

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

Fear flashed over McCullum’s eyes, uncertain of the meaning behind Reid’s words. He was confident in his ability to resist a mental intrusion, but the lingering threat of the unknown haunted his thoughts.

“What do you mean?“ A hint of fear was clear in the question. Jonathan could only think how lucky this man was that he was so soft-hearted.

“I’ll spare you McCullum. I’ll offer you the mercy you never offered me.”

“...What is this ruse?”

“This is no ruse McCullum. This is me letting you go. After all, you and I are both trying to save this poor country in our own way.”

Jonathan released the other’s neck and held out his hand in offering. He could practically feel McCullum’s shock and confusion just by looking at his face. In doing so, he also took note for the first time of the consequences of their...scuffle. Several red gashes graced McCullum’s face...arms...chest…

_Ah, this is rather bad._

Whatever blessing King Arthur’s blood held was clearly wearing off. Several of the wounds would need immediate attention. Guilt crept into his mind at the full realization that he had swung his weapons at a human, even if in self defense. His thoughts were momentarily interrupted by the weight pulling his still outstretched arm. McCullum struggled to his feet and Reid seized the opportunity, anticipating the incoming protest.

“ _What_ are you doing?”

The incredulous tone sated at least some level of Reid’s desire for revenge. What better way to take the moral high ground than by simultaneously forcing Geoffrey to do something he knew he wouldn’t want. Reid could barely contain his smirk as he adjusted the arm draped over his neck to better support the other’s weight.

“I have a much worse fate for you in mind.”

With the man so close, it was hard to miss how McCullum stiffened at his side. Certainly, teasing the poor man was lifting his mood. Though he supposed it was enough for the time being.

“I’m going to take care of these wounds before I leave and I won’t take no for an answer. Some of these lacerations require immediate attention.”

Geoffrey could do little more than blankly stare before his mind caught up.

“You can’t be serious.”

“And why would I joke about healing the injured?”

“Deceit is in your nature, leech. I’ve seen the way your kind lure the innocent.”

The reaction was to be expected, but Reid preferred the smalltalk over uncomfortable silence as he lead them to the lift. And if it happened to work as a sufficient distraction to drag a bleeding hunter along without resistance, even better. As the lift began to move, he resumed the conversation.

“I know your men have been watching me. I would have hoped your opinion of my ‘nature’ was slightly better than that. At the very least you should know I have never compromised my patients nor my integrity as a physician.”

“And how long until you give into your hunger and decide I’m on the menu? I’ve been culling your kind far longer than you’ve been one, or have you forgotten? You aren’t fooling me, leech.”

“The only solace I can provide to that is my word. Rest assured I won’t allow it at least for the foreseeable future.”

The glare directed back at him made it clear that Geoffrey was definitely not placated by his response. And to be honest, Reid knew his words would not convince himself were their positions reversed. As they descended the third floor stairs, Reid realized that lugging a man down the main stairs to the patient ward would raise more questions than he could make excuses for. He turned them in the direction of the only bed remaining. In his exhausted state, it took Geoffrey until they were halfway down the hallway to question their destination.

“Where are you taking me? There aren’t any patients this-” He cut himself off when he read the nameplate marked Dr. Reid on the door in front of him, unsure what to make of this.

“My office, Geoffrey. I believe we would both appreciate the privacy of a closed room given your...propensity to speak enthusiastically about vampires. I would prefer _not_ having unwanted rumors flying about the hospital. And you can be as mad as you want without the risk of prying ears.”

He received a frown at the jab but no retort as he led his patient to sit on the only bed in the room. Come to think of it, it was the first time Reid had had a ‘guest’ in his quarters. “Please forgive the mess. I wasn’t expecting company.” Surely, the room was not in such disarray to portray its occupant as a slob, but neither did the mess strewn about the desktops reflect a pristine gentleman. McCullum, for his part, seemed uninterested in conversation and opted instead for a guarded posture, as if anticipating an attack.

Reid was thankful the other had recovered enough to not accept his death; perhaps that sense would allow him to be patched up without protest. Still, McCullum’s lack of response was becoming unnerving the longer it went on. He rolled a tray of instruments and a stool next to the bed and tried to lighten the mood.

“I thought you would be more excited to see my evil lair. Consider this intelligence gathering on all my darkest secrets,” Jonathan said in mocking tone, smile playing at his lips. The effort was lost on the hunter who was more preoccupied with intensely observing him for any sudden movements. _Not that you’d be able to do much in that state_ , he thought to himself before calmly moving close enough to begin. The remnants of the regeneration effect had healed the cuts across his cheeks mostly closed, but the one on his arm was still slowly leaking blood. As for the rest, he needed a bit of cooperation.

“Let’s get your shirt off so I can see the damage, if you would.” His tone was professional, but he somehow knew it wouldn’t be so easy. Jonathan reached forward anyway.

“The hell you will! Get your hands away from me, leech.” McCullum’s protest was surprisingly confident for someone that looked on the verge of passing out. Reid’s suspicions were confirmed when he began unbuttoning the shirt; he was much too tired to offer any physical backing to his threats. After quick inspection over his front, Reid concluded the wound on his arm was the only remaining critical injury.

“The good news is your all your insides are still inside. The bad news is you’ll need stitches for that one. Here, lean your arm on your leg and hold it steady for me.” Geoffrey eyed him for a few more seconds before complying with a sigh. Grateful for the compliance, Jonathan moved quickly to prepare the needle and thread. “If it helps, I could lend you a scalpel to defend yourself?” He had been joking so far to get McCullum to relax, but he was at least half serious this time. Without the distraction of walking and talking, Reid was forced to focus more on the open wounds. The smell of blood threatened the edge of his clarity.

“Just get on with it, _doctor_.” The hunter’s words brought him back to his senses, or at least enough to concentrate on the task at hand rather than the intoxicating scent in the air. He found holding his breath dampened the effect of the scent, allowing him to stitch through the flesh easier. When he finished, Reid grabbed the antiseptic and repositioned to address the shallower cut across McCullum’s pectoral. Thankfully it would just need to be cleaned and covered.

“How is it you aren’t draining me right now?”

Geoffrey’s question would have caught him off guard had he not be asking himself the same question. He raised his head to deflect the topic, but when he met the other’s eyes something within him made him want to be sincere.

“I won’t lie to you, Geoffrey. It takes a lot of effort to resist the smell of your blood. The little distractions help, like conversation or the smell of antiseptic. But what I wouldn’t give to lick the blood off your cheek for even a taste…”

Reid realized what he was suggesting too late to stop it from coming out. That said, watching Geoffrey’s face shift from horrified to embarrassed may have been worth it. He found the redness on his ears was for lack of a better word, cute. “Heh, suppose I sound more like a dog than a vampire,” he muttered more to diffuse the atmosphere than anything. 

“Keep your tongue to yourself, Fido. Are we done here?”

“Clean off your face with this and get some rest. You should be good to go in the morning,” Jonathan said as he handed over a damp towel. He trusted Geoffrey had enough sense to do that by himself.

“And what makes you think I’m going to sleep here, completely vulnerable?”

“A fair point, Geoffrey, had I not spent the last 10 minutes tending to you nor spared your life while it was in my hands.” Jonathan was on the edge of falling back into annoyance, but tried for a more professional approach. “You’ve lost a lot of blood tonight and I don’t want you stumbling around outside. I am worried for Dr. Swansea so I need to leave for now. If I’m not back by morning you may leave or check in downstairs in the event of complications.” The lack of protest indicated he was at least considering the idea, although not without sending his most critical glare towards the doctor. Jonathan let a moment lapse, considering whether or not to suggest it.

“Or you could stay and wait. Your company is always welcome here. God knows I’d appreciate the change of pace.” He disappeared out the exterior door in a flash, not waiting for a response.


	2. Chapter 2

Reid never imagined he would miss the crowded daytime streets of London. What he normally would describe as tranquil was a maddening isolation tonight. Everything was falling apart around him and the chaos of it all had his mind reeling. The only thing pushing his feet forward was the threat of burning alive by dawnlight. When Pembroke came into view, he suddenly remembered the man he had left earlier that night. It had been at most 5 hours, but it felt like he had accumulated days’ worth of stress. 

He focused his senses on the building, hoping to see McCullum had followed instructions and was resting. Reid didn’t hold his breath given how everything else that night was going. When crimson outlines filled his vision his stride came to an abrupt halt. Against expectations, Jonathan could cleary make out a figure laying on his bed.

If the frequency of his gait increased afterwards, he didn’t notice. He jumped to his office and looked toward the bed, distrusting of his own senses. Sure enough, the hunter was right where he left him, sleeping with even breaths. Reid sighed in relief. “At least you’re still here,” his mutter barely more than a whisper. Moving quietly was something he picked up naturally after his rebirth, so he wasn’t too concerned with waking the other up. He shut the door and began to undress. After taking off his coat and vest, he recalled his bed was at maximum occupancy. The floor would have to suffice. _Well, it’s only for the night_ , he thought as he kicked off his shoes. 

The click of a revolver resounded through the room. Before Jonathan could turn to face the source, Geoffrey’s voice rumbled low. “Move an inch and I’ll blow your head off, leech. I won’t miss at this range.” Even though he didn’t believe that in the slightest, he complied so as not to cause a panic at the sound of gunfire.

“McCullum, I am in _no_ mood for this. Lower your weapon and go back to sleep. Tonight has been more than stressful enough without this.” Reid’s voice was stern and filled with anger, his patience more than exhausted.

“So you can kill me in my sleep? Your kind prey on the defenseless and I won’t be fooled.”

At that, he couldn’t hold back a surge of vitriol. “ _The defenseless?!_ That’s rich coming from someone who allegedly ‘doesn’t kill humans.’ ” How could he say such a thing after what the Guard had done to Edgar. There was a noticeable pause before McCullum responded.

“...What exactly are you implying?” Geoffrey’s voice held a hint of uncertainty in it. It was obvious that Reid was referring to Dr. Swansea, but it sounded as if he did not know the full extent of what transpired before Jonathan found him. He chanced a look over his shoulder at the hunter, seeking some sort of confirmation. The confusion he saw on his face was evidence enough of his ignorance.

“...We should talk, Geoffrey.” The sharp edge of his voice had fallen to a sad tone. Slowly, he stepped to the chair by his desk and sat down facing the still standing man. “Speak, then.” Reid couldn’t. Not immediately, anyway. He needed a few moments to gather his thoughts.

“I found Dr. Swansea in the basement of the theatre, bloody, beaten, and hanging onto a thread of life. _What_ , precisely, did you order your men to do?” he tried, in his best effort to keep calm.

“I had that traitor punished for creating this scourge. I left my men with the order to drag the truth out of him,” Geoffrey said defiantly. He knew his men would not kill a human so carelessly, but Reid’s words elicited the thought regardless. “If you found him alive I’d say they did an alright job.”

“ _It’s not alright!_ ” Jonathan couldn’t prevent his voice from rising. Even Geoffrey’s eyes widened from the outburst. It was the first time he had ever heard the man sound truly mad. The sound of erratic breathing slowed as Jonathan composed himself, before continuing, his voice despondent. “His lung was punctured and he had suffered severe internal bleeding. There was no time. He...he’s gone, Geoffrey.”

McCullum’s expression froze. If Dr. Swansea was really dead, the relative civility between Priwen and the Brotherhood would be broken. Even if the two groups had disagreements in how they operate, the intelligence they shared with each other was invaluable. _Those gits are dead when I get my hands on them._ Silence befell the room for almost a minute before Reid slowly continued.

“You were right, at least partially, about the vampire epidemic. Dr. Swansea inadvertently created the origin in an experiment on a patient here. He used...another vampires blood...on a human patient.” He frowned and pleaded, “you must believe me, Geoffrey, I had no part in this.”

“Then you had better give me a reason to believe you, leech. From where I stand you’re just as guilty.” Or so he said. But he’d never seen a vampire work so hard to manipulate a human. At this point Geoffrey felt just as likely Reid was telling the truth. Yet again, Reid was unable to form an immediate reply. 

“I..I let him die.” Geoffrey almost missed the whispered words. That..seemed to contradict that Swansea was truly beyond medical help. Geoffrey thought he could see something like guilt in his pale eyes. His posture and tone were so docile and open it felt contagious. He lowered his revolver to his side but did not holster it, just in case. “I had the opportunity to turn him. My blood could have healed him. Hell, he would have even embraced it. But how could I?! How could I trust a man who hid so much from me with the responsibility of this curse?”

Geoffrey grimaced at the thought of yet another leech running around the hospital. “Indeed. It’s a cruel fate to bestow upon anyone. And one less beast for me to put down.”

“Even still, he would at least be alive. What does this leave me with?” Jonathan raised his head to meet Geoffrey’s eyes. “Do you know what it’s like to be unable to tell the people you meet what you are? How you actually feel? My colleagues, my friends, Clarence, Avery, my own mother… There are so few people I have left to confide in. And now one is dead and another has run away without a reason. Everyone around me is disappearing and I can’t understand anything anymore.”

Reid realized he was getting worked up again. Deep breaths, Jonathan.

Geoffrey waited for the other to calm down, his glare more stoic than malicious. “If you’re looking for sympathy you’ll not find it. The less humans you know the less chance you spawn more leeches.” They both could see through the bravado, his timbre betraying the spite of his words. He needed out of this conversation before he associated any more feelings with this vampire. Unfortunately, Geoffrey knew he was not apt at the trickeries of speech. 

“If it’s really that bad, how about I do you the favor of ending you right here? I’ve put down sadder dogs before.”

“Dogs? What do you-” Jonathan flushed when he recalled the comment he had made earlier that night. “ _My lord_ , will you drop that already? I swear, one slip of the tongue and I’m mocked for eternity.”

“Sounded like you wanted more than one slip before.”

Jonathan didn’t believe McCullum could make such a vulgar joke, but the smirk on the other’s face confirmed it. He paused, stunned, for a moment, but couldn’t prevent the snort nor subsequent laughing fit that followed. “You...you are ridiculous, Geoffrey.” He shook his head in amusement. “Perhaps someday I’ll take you up on your offer, but for now I need to focus on ending the epidemic. If science started this, it can surely stop it as well.” 

Sunlight peeked through the boarded windows, alerting them that day had broken. “Well then get some sleep first. You look like shit.” Geoffrey holstered the gun he forgot he was holding and grabbed his coat. He spoke again without turning around, “and don’t even start. I’m fine enough to walk.”

“...Very well. Stay safe, Geoffrey. Goodnight.”

Being on the receiving end of constant concern made Geoffrey feel...warm, loathe as he was to admit it. 

“It’s morning, you dolt.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much for a short chapter. That's what happens when a 3 sentence outline becomes 1400 words of dialogue mess.  
> Next chapter will timeskip after the end of the game a little and will deal with the fallout of Pembroke.  
> As for why Reid didn't ask for King Arthur's blood this chapter...give him a break, he hadn't fully read Marshall's memoirs yet.


	3. Chapter 3

The steady ambient sound of the patient wing wafted through the Pembroke Hospital’s first floor. Dr. Reid had been attending patients back to back all night, and yet he couldn’t seem to mind. It had been ages since he had truly felt that this was his full time job. He had been playing part time ‘champion’ of London so much since his rebirth that the tedium of his profession was a welcome monotony. The latest patient he was checking on displayed classic symptoms of the Spanish Flu. Even though it had been a month since the Morrigan returned to her endless rest, the doctor thought it prudent to keep tabs on any possible lingering remnants of the vampire epidemic.

However, he knew this relative normalcy would not last. Pembroke had been overbooked and understaffed since the flu had taken over the country. Jonathan knew the hospital could make due with its current supplies and what they could put together ad-hoc, but two bigger problems lingered above him. Firstly, the funds required to support the base operations had been disrupted. Or rather, their source had been. Without its previous leadership, Pembroke had been running on existing income for the past several months. Surely, some connections with altruistic donors could be re-established, but not all… His heart ached at the thought of Lady Ashbury, but he forced himself to compartmentalize that until a later time, lest he have a break down in the middle of work.

Despite it all, Dr. Reid knew the hospital would eventually recover from such problems. Pembroke was a beacon of light to those who could not afford private practice, i.e. nearly all this side of London. If the place threatened to shut down, the government would at least prop it up until the quarantines stabilized. However, the situation would need to worsen before that sort of intervention, and he had no desire to find out how much worse.

The second issue was more personally involved. Dr. Swansea had afforded him a sizeable amount of leniency for their profession. He knew Edgar had placated concerns of missed rounds and a private room with the other staff by using his distinguished status or some other excuse about research. But now such accommodations were being re-evaluated, as it were. The physicians of Pembroke elected Dr. Ackroyd as the interim chair. Dr. Reid would have preferred someone less strict, but if the only other options were Dr. Tippets and Dr. Strickland… he supposed a stringent leader would be better than an addict or someone likely to start another supernatural epidemic. Nonetheless, the decision was against his own interests. He had already heard gossip second hand from patients throughout the ward, so Dr. Ackroyd’s invitation was not unexpected.

“Dr. Reid, please see me in my office when you’re done attending Mr. Bishop.” Straight to the point, as always. “Of course, Dr. Ackroyd. Just me a few minutes.” The other simply nodded and left. He took a few notes on the patient chart before returning his attention to the man himself. “Well, Mr. Bishop, we’ll try to keep the pneumonia down for tonight. If you need assistance, a nurse will attend to you.” The sickly man only gave a small nod in recognition, unwilling to risk another coughing fit.

When he entered Dr. Swansea’s office - former office, Jonathan - he found Dr. Ackroyd reading some sort of note at his desk. Dr. Reid had gone through the office prior to the appointment in order to remove any physical evidence that could implicate him or otherwise reveal his condition, but there was always a lingering fear that he had missed something. Edgar had been pretty blunt about the existence of Ekons in his research, and anything linking himself to that knowledge would raise flags. And what if that was why he was summoned? None of his options led him to a satisfactory answer to that question. Edgar had agreed to hosting a vampire only because the Brotherhood of Saint Paul’s Stole knew of the existence and possible...civility of vampires. Would he be forced to silence Ackroyd? He should be skilled enough to force his will without damaging the doctor’s mind, but there was always a risk.

“Ah, Dr. Reid, there you are.” The voice brought him out of his thoughts. He opted to stand rather than sit, feeling more comfortable in a position to flee...or strike. “Present, sir. What did you want to talk about?” While there was no nervousness in his voice, he was racked with anticipation.

“Nothing so stiff, I assure you. I wanted to better understand your position here as agreed upon by Dr. Swansea. In your time here, you have provided exemplary service to patients you have attended. This meeting, however, is about those you have not attended to. In the past, you gave Dr. Swansea notice for your intermittent absences, but now that you are my responsibility, I will require similar notice.” Reid had at least calmed down when he realized this was not an intervention about his identity. “I also know you have also been making rounds to the citizens of the districts, and while I am glad that someone cares enough to do so, please remember your primary responsibility is to the patients here. We can’t have you disappearing when we need all assistance we can get, like your two week trip to...where was it again?”

“Scotland, sir. Not much of a trip. A family emergency.”

“Right. You’ve had a lot of those recently. My condolences. Nevertheless, the absences are inacceptable. We will require more out of you to keep our triage under control. I won’t ask you to be like Dr. Tippets, but starting tomorrow your hours will begin at 5pm.” Reid’s eyes widened. The sun would still be out at that hour and the majority of the hospital bathed in its brilliance. There was no way he would be able to dodge the direct light until night.

“Dr. Ackroyd, surely you-”

“No, Dr. Reid. Your name will not afford you an exception. I’m holding you to the same level as the rest of the staff. That is all.”

Ackroyd ended the conversation with a tone of finality, signaling that Dr. Reid was dismissed. Had someone spoken to him three months ago like this, he would have held his ground vehemently. He had had a purpose, a goal with moving posts, but still something to drive towards and damn the circumstances to accomplish it. But now, Reid knew he had to tread carefully or risk losing one of the only things he had left, his job. He would retreat for now, but knew he needed to formulate a plan before the night’s end. Once the day started, he would be confined to the shadows until well after this new schedule began. Needing to sort the dilemma out in peace, he hurried to his office. When he shut the door behind him, a sudden loud sound caused him to jump, his back hitting the door.

“Jesus! Who is-” he cut himself when he realized it was just McCullum at his work desk, rummaging through the drawers. The hunter had stopped to look at him curiously, before resuming whatever exactly he was doing. “Geoffrey? What are you doing here?” This time, he seemed annoyed when he looked back.

“Weren’t you the one who said I was always welcome here? Or do we have a different definition of always?” Yes, definitely annoyed. It took Reid a few moments for the whole situation to click. McCullum had invited himself into his room and was messing with his things. And for some reason, he couldn’t find it in himself to be upset in the slightest.

“No, you’re right. I meant what I said before. I am glad to see you again, I’m just a bit wound up at the moment.” McCullum arched his brow either in disbelief or as a cue to continue. Reid interpreted it as the latter. “I find myself in a bit of trouble, Geoffrey. The presiding interim chair has determined I am not pulling my weight at Pembroke. As such, my working hours have been rebalanced to include daytime shifts.” Geoffrey smirked at that idea, clearly enjoying the situation. “So what’s wrong with that? Get some gloves and one of those seaman hats! Not suspicious at all, hah!”

“Be serious, will you? I’m quite put out by this. Dr. Ackroyd is an austere man. I fear my options for resolution are all aligned in a disreputable direction...” Reid averted his eyes downward, as if asking the floor had an answer. It didn’t. Geoffrey’s narrowed his own eyes dangerously at him and spoke threateningly.

“You planning to off him, then?”

Reid was affronted by the accusation. “What? No! That would not even solve anything. The issue would simply follow me when the next head is elected. I was considering a more civil, although shameful, approach. I should be able to ‘suggest’ Dr. Ackroyd allow my current routine.” His voice had tapered off when he saw Geoffrey’s look of disapproval. “You mean enchant him, control his mind. Didn’t take you for someone that’d abuse your power.” Even though he expected the rebuke, it still hurt to hear from someone else. “I...have done so in the past, yes. I assure you I am just as disappointed in myself as you are. Relying on such a technique is the same as admitting I lack the charisma and persuasion of a gentleman. I just don’t have the same resources as I did before. Please understand that I do not fall upon such measures lightly.”

In truth, Geoffrey did believe him for now, although he was not yet convinced that wouldn’t change in the future. “Deceitful creatures, the lot of you. You’d best not loosen that hesitation, Reid, or we’re gonna have a problem.” 

Jonathan let a smirk grace his lips. The casual banter always did have a way of lifting his spirits. “Of course not. I’d say we have quite enough problems as it is. Though, I’m certainly open for suggestions if you have an alternative,” he said with a mocking tone. The hunter simply stared back, brows raised. “Dropping your personal problems on me before you even know why I’m here? Impressive, even for you.” A moment of silence elapsed before Jonathan let out a small chuckle. “Yet again, you are right. I’m just a tad stressed and I seem to have made a habit out of venting my frustrations to you. Forgive my poor manners. How can I help you tonight, Geoffrey?”

“No idea, huh? Haven’t had a word with you since that night a month ago in the graveyard. I think there’s a lot of things you need to fill me in on, Reid. The number of skals showing up in the streets has dropped, so I’ve been running on the assumption you succeeded. But then my men report you heading north and you go missing for two weeks? Then when you’re supposedly back there’s no sight of you on the streets. So you tell me, Reid, why _am_ I here?”

_It’s like this man is asking for it._ Jonathan couldn’t resist such an easy opportunity. “Careful there, Geoffrey. One might mistake that latter part as concern.” The annoyed look he received was more than worth it. “I apologize for not updating you sooner. When I returned from Scotland, rumors had already been circulating around the hospital about my absence. My hands have been rather forced lately.” He hadn’t even considered what McCullum made of the situation after a month of being left in the dark. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too put out since he was not in danger.

“Give me the short version,” the hunter said impatiently.

“The short version is yes, I managed to stop the Disaster. The only epidemic left is the same Spanish Flu that everyone else is suffering. The long version is-” Geoffrey held up a hand to cut him off. “Good enough. Save the details for later. Let’s solve your bigger problem first. Supposing you don’t use your leech powers on an innocent human, what’s your plan?” Jonathan didn’t believe his ears. Was he really offering to help?

“Let me guess, move back to West End and hide locked away in your room all day? Or maybe flee the city and start over? I don’t advise that one. I’m not letting you out of my sight, Dr. Reid.”

“Letting me? Putting aside whether or not you could prevent me from doing so, why exactly do you wish me to remain within your supervision’s range?” The frown Geoffrey wore deepened, annoyed that he even had to explain. “I’ve got a newborn leech running around the city stronger than any Priwen has known since before Carl. You can understand my concern with the safety of the country if I allow you to leave.”

It was Reid’s turn to be annoyed. Rightly so, he thought, given how things always seemed to wrap back around to this point. “And I also would have thought you knew me well enough to not consider me a threat to the general public.” Geoffrey hesitated at that. His eyes betrayed his uncertainty and unwillingness, but he forced himself despite them.

“You...stand as an exception to everything I’ve seen. Be lying if I didn’t say that was part of it. I want to believe what I see, but I can’t just ignore what I’ve known. Easier to tell where your path leads if I’m holding the leash.” Reid rolled his eyes at the joke. “Pray tell, what do you propose, then?” Geoffrey’s features softened into a familiar wry smirk.

“As it happens, Priwen is in need of medical expertise.”

Jonathan’s jaw went slack and eyes wide. “Are you...offering me employment?”

“Aye, and the housing’s on me. You get to avoid your little leech problems and I get to keep tabs on you. Seems like a good deal to me, unless you’ve got somewhere better to go.” He didn’t and they both knew it, but admitting that was still embarrassing. “By my own admission, I am utterly speechless… I don’t know what to say.”

“Well you’d better say something quick. I’m not offering again.” That made him panic slightly, rushing into such a decision was of course unwise, but this was probably a once in a lifetime chance, even an immortal lifetime. _Bloody hell._

“Yes! Yes, I accept, Geoffrey. I am grateful beyond words, my friend. You have no idea how much this means to me.” The smile that radiated off Jonathan’s was too bright for the hunter to look directly at. “I think I have an idea..” He turned to the desk and used a piece of scratch paper to write something down. “Pack up your things and meet me at this address tomorrow night. I’ll see you then.” He turned to the bedside door and began to walk away before Jonathan called out to him. “Wait, that’s it? You’re leaving?” He turned around and scoffed at the doctor with a playful tone.

“Pfft. I’m not letting you rope me into helping you pack your shit. Nor am I sticking around for when you tell Dr. What’s-his-face of your resignation. Have fun with that, by the way.” This time he didn’t stop when he walked out the door. Seeing Jonathan so happy effected the familiar warmth he recognized as fondness. He didn’t bother denying it to himself this time. _‘My friend, eh?’_

* * *

After McCullum had left, Reid began packing his possessions. While he certainly didn’t own many physical possessions, aside from the mountains of materials he collected outside, he knew a thorough scrubdown of the office for anything betraying hints of vampires was necessary. Most of it were various historical papers and pamphlets he kept neatly organized in a drawer. He determined a small box could fit most everything he owned, at least until Lisa fell into his periphery. He made a wager with himself if Geoffrey would mock his decision to bring the plant along. _Am I forgetting anything else?_ It felt like he was forgetting something important. Suddenly, he remembered the locked safe hidden away in the corner of the room. _I can’t believe I was about to leave something this important lying around._ He unlocked the small door and pulled out the container of King Arthur’s blood that McCullum had lent him to end the vampire epidemic. McCullum would be grateful that it had only taken a minuscule amount to prepare an antidote. 

_King Arthur, huh… It’s hard to believe he was really my immortal brother…_

Jonathan froze dead in his tracks when he recognized he had overlooked the connection between two important facts. _If Arthur was a vampire, what exactly did Geoffrey drink that night in the hospital tower?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting into the plot! I don't think anyone has written Reid as working for the Guard yet, so I'm excited.   
> Also, the seaman hat McCullum was referring to was a balaclava. I was unsure if that had entered English vernacular by the period.


	4. Chapter 4

“You can’t be serious. Pembroke needs assistance now more than ever and you’re just leaving?! Over what, being held accountable for you actions?” Dr. Reid had prepared for the scathing reprimand since he had woken up that afternoon. He had run through his options countless times attempting to come up with some justification that wouldn’t ruin his good standing in the medical community. Experience showed that many professionals would rather disassociate a physician with a bad past than risk any potential slight to their own image. Although...he was unsure for how much longer such concerns would matter. Eventually his colleagues would catch on to his unchanging appearance as the people around him aged. Reid pushed that thought to the background of his mind. He would worry about reinventing himself when it became necessary. Focusing on the irritated doctor before him, he gave the mostly truthful excuse that he had been rehearsing the last hour.

“I understand your frustration, Dr. Ackroyd, but know that this decision has been a long time coming. Our intervention last night was simply another push in this direction. I have been offered a position in private practice that more closely matches my goals as a researcher. This recent wave of influenza has awakened a motivation within me.” Okay, _somewhat_ truthful excuse. While he would very much enjoy researching the Spanish Flu, there were much more pertinent afflictions he needed to investigate. Or perhaps only he could investigate.

Dr. Ackroyd’s frown was not alleviated, but he did at least concede the response was typical for an ‘esteemed’ doctor like Dr. Reid. “To be honest, I am disappointed in you, Dr. Reid. When you stopped Dr. Strickland from using that experimental drug, I thought you might have been persuaded to a higher moral standard. I see now that you place science above the welfare of the people.” He exhaled a long sigh before resuming. “I suppose that is in its own way a form of care, despite my feelings. Modern medicine will progress as it always has. I would implore you to stay, but I’ve a feeling it wouldn’t do much at this point.”

He was right, but Reid wasn’t going to rub that in given their mostly civil the valedictions. “With that, I shall take my leave. When I am settled at my new position, I will forward my contact details should you require my perspective in the future. Farewell, Dr. Ackroyd.”

“To you as well, Dr. Reid.”

Reid did not particularly want to give out a method to contact himself, but he still worried that Dr. Ackroyd may come across some piece of information betraying his identity. In such an event, he hoped that Ackroyd would be sceptical enough to verify with him personally rather than seek out the aid of another. 

He closed the door behind him and walked back to his office. The box on the bed held most of his effects, but he would need to carry a few weapons under his coat. The thought that he could construct a small arsenal over the course of a few months disturbed him, but they would at least be a valuable sell. In order not to drag such obvious attention to himself, Reid took the balcony exit, for the last time, he supposed. A small wave of longing passed as he looked back at Pembroke before he forced himself to look forward. The first steps were the hardest, but he moved nonetheless. The address McCullum had left was on the other side of Thames, near Southwark Cathedral. The walk was uneventful. A bit of a length, but not too far, especially for a vampire. 

As he reached his destination, he took in his surroundings. The area was quiet, still, like the rest of London. In normal circumstances this would be of no concern, but near a Priwen base of operations? Surely, at least there would be men patrolling the streets. Reid considered for a moment that he had been too naive and that this was a trap. A theory he just as quickly dismissed when he focused his senses. If it was a trap, McCullum certainly wasn’t trying very hard. He could make out the man sitting in a building just ahead in an unassuming posture. It appeared to be a residential building. Seeing no point in confirming the address, he walked up to the door and gave it a knock. When McCullum answered moments later, his eyes held the barest suggestion of surprise before his whole face shifted into a distasteful frown. 

“Did you really have to bring the plant?”

Hearing such a flat remark drew a snort from Reid. “Should I not have brought Lisa?”

“You named it?” he said more a statement than a question. “I don’t know what I was expecting. Come in, then.” He moved out of the doorway to let the doctor through. Reid followed him into an inoffensive living room. Compared to the outpost in Whitechapel, the space was cleaner, if only due to disuse. Only the bed in the back of the room showed any sign of someone living there. This was obviously not a Guard of Priwen base of operations. He set his box down on the coffee table then turned to the hunter.

“I was under the assumption that working for Priwen would require my skills at an outpost or the like.” Thinking about it, he hadn’t really thought much of the details beyond that. “And you will. The main base is about 3 blocks south, nearer the church. This is where you’ll be stayin’. My lads aren’t going to be thrilled having a leech around.” 

Reid expected the hunters would not be accommodating, but believed they would follow orders to not harm him. It was a reasonable expectation given how he had seen them follow McCullum’s fanaticism. However, he also knew the level of competency of the hunters was not up to par with the Guard's past. Even if twenty of them attacked him at once, Reid was confident in his ability to take them down. Hopefully it would not come to that…

“That is understandable. Still, why here in particular? There doesn’t appear to be much life to the neighborhood.” McCullum smirked at that. “That’d be the point. Less chance of you taking a bite out of the locals.”

“I am glad to see you are in good enough spirits to make jokes in such poor taste. I will not bend so easily to my hunger and you know it.” Even if against a jest, defending his character was becoming exasperating. “True enough, for now. I already own this place, so it don’t cost me to keep you here. Can’t get a lick of privacy with the lads around so I come here to cool off.”

The mention of privacy had Jonathan on alert. If no one would hear them, it would be the perfect segue to his epiphany from the night before. “In that case, I would like to take this opportunity to speak with you on a private manner.” He waited for the other to respond to show the seriousness of the conversation. “Speak up, then.”

“I’d like to start with a question. When was the last time you have been out in the sun?”

Geoffrey answered with a sneer, very clearly unamused. “What are you getting at, Reid?”

“Please just answer the question, Geoffrey. I need to know when the last time you have been in direct sunlight. Also, if you have noticed any differences in your appetite.” The hunter’s face reddened in anger when he understood the implication. “Are you calling me a fucking leech? Why would you- _did you fucking do something to me?!_ ”

“No! I have done nothing, I promise you. Just please, calm down and answer me. Your answers are extremely important for me to make sense of this.” By this point, Geoffrey was fuming, but attempted to do as he was asked anyway. “I had some errands under daylight last week. And no, I still hunger for actual food, you bastard.” In his rage, he didn’t notice the worry on Jonathan’s face until it morphed into relief, as if hearing that was the highlight of his day. The fact that Jonathan had stepped closer probably aided his observation as well.

“Good… very good, Geoffrey… You had not acted differently since the night we fought but I needed to make sure.” Logically, if he had become a vampire from drinking King Arthur’s blood the transformation would have occurred sometime around their battle. Or at least, he had never heard of the process being anything but immediate. “Please have a seat, Geoffrey. What I am about to say will likely make you even more mad than just now. This is main factor that requires seclusion.”

“Just spit it out and stop treating me like a child, Reid.”

“As you wish. During my journey to Scotland, I acquired information that is in conflict with what you just told me. I learned of King Arthur’s true identity as a vampire.” There was silence for several long moments. _For fuck's sake._ When Geoffrey finally moved to sit down on the couch, his head hung while he spoke in a low voice. “The most holy defender of Britain a bloody leech? The same Arthur the Guard looks to for inspiration? You’re such a shit liar…” Jonathan understood the denial, but he did need the other to see the truth.

“It’s not a lie-”

“I know. You’re a shit liar so I can tell when you’re being honest. Care to explain, then?” So long as he understood, it was fine. But now came the hard part. “You’ll need the long version for this to all come together.” Jonathan took a seat on the couch next to him and began to retell the events from his experience. The blood of hate was the critical element in this story, so he made sure to explain how the vampire epidemic spread in conjunction with the flu, and how he traced the origin from Eliza Mullaney back to Doris and then to Harriet.

“And then you got Swansea to admit he and William Marshal conducted the whole thing. I know that much already.” Jonathan sighed. He didn’t know what was more frustrating, McCullum assuming so much without evidence or that he wasn’t that far off the mark. “Not exactly. Edgar was attempting to find a cure to the Spanish Flu. The creation of the vampire epidemic was an accident stemmed from poor ethics. The vampire blood he used was indeed corrupted by the blood of hate. However, it was not the blood William Marshal, but his progeny, that is, Lady Ashbury. She kept the identity of her maker a secret from everyone.” 

McCullum made a grimace at the revelation. He hadn’t considered the possibility of Marshal’s hellspawn in the persistent threats to the country. Jonathan resumed his story, recounting how he used a recipe based on the Tear of Angels described in Marshal's Memoirs to prevent infection as he fought Harriet and the Red Queen. He didn’t blame Geoffrey when he stared at him like an idiot. Fighting an avatar of an ancient goddess in a sewer filled with blood was not especially believable, so he moved on to his search for Lady Ashbury and how he tracked down a derelict castle in the countryside of Scotland.

“You’re telling me that bastard William Marshal has been locked away for centuries in a tomb in _Scotland_ of all places? If that is so, how is that red headed one able to exist freely with that blood?”

“After he infected her, William Marshal was overcome by grief and sought out a cure. He used the Tear of Angels he sought out on Lady Ashbury, ridding her mind of the hate. However, this cure did not remove whatever mechanism the blood of hate activates in the body.” Jonathan’s throat became tight when he recalled what happened next. He had still not moved on, but knew that Geoffrey would want to know what became of these...threats. “Upon learning that she was still a carrier of the disease and that her blood caused the vampire epidemic, she returned to Scotland to end the potential danger their blood possessed... She killed William Marshal and then herself… I was unable to convince her to believe in me to find a cure.” 

When he saw Reid lower his head in defeat, Geoffrey made a conscious effort not to say something too hurtful, even if Britain was better off with them dead. Keeping the conversation on track was an easier task. “So what does any of this have to do with King Arthur?”

“I met my maker, Myrddin Wyllt, at the castle. When I created the antidote with Arthur’s blood, I recognized it as vampire blood. I questioned Myrddin and he claimed that it was indeed the blood of King Arthur. What’s more, that he was both Arthur’s and Marshal’s maker, making the three of use brothers by lineage.” By this point, nothing was catching the hunter off guard. Instead, scepticism had taken over his features. “And you believe him? That’s a pretty bold claim.”

“He has no reason to lie, for he too wishes to protect this land. If that is not convincing enough, perhaps an appeal to the history will be. 'Myrddin Wyllt' is just one of many names. In a different time, he was known as Merlin.” Geoffrey sat silently, staring at the wall. Even he had to admit the strangeness that drinking King Arthur’s blood improved a human’s strength and regeneration. It was always something he had written off as a holy blessing by the Lord for one chosen to save Britain. Thinking on it now, he felt naive for not questioning it sooner.

“By all I know, if you really drank the same blood that you lent me to create the antidote, you should have turned that night.” Jonathan pulled the container of blood out from his box and handed it to the hunter. “Unless there is something special about this blood that would prevent the spread of vampirism. Perhaps some sort of... divine blessing? I’m afraid I am at a loss.”

“It’s different,” Geoffrey grumbled. He could already tell where his knowledge was taking him and he didn’t like it. “What I drank is the Guard of Priwen’s last resort for combat against powerful leeches. It is a solution prepared from the blood I gave you. We don’t drink from King Arthur’s sacred blood directly.” Jonathan lit up in excitement and hurriedly barraged him with questions.

“A separate process? By what medium? Do you understand what this could mean, Geoffrey? If there was some approach to isolate the mechanism of infection, it may be possible to create a vaccine against vampirism, or perhaps even a cure! You _must_ tell me method.” Now that was a prospect that had the hunter intrigued. Not only would the Guard be more defended against the vampire menace, but the endless cycle of perdition could come to a close. Unfortunately, there was a major wall in developing such a panacea.

“Couldn’t tell you. Priwen has never done it. Every bit of it we have was prepared before the Guard of Priwen existed, back when we were still part of the Brotherhood. The Primate would know for sure, but certainly no one under a Legate. It was a point of contention when Kendal Stone broke us off from those cowards, and Carl never got around to negotiating for the process. As it stands, we only got 3 left in our inventory.” It was disheartening to hear that so little remained, but Jonathan would not give up so easily. “If there is not enough to reverse engineer, we will try the easier solution. I will simply go inquire the method from Usher Talltree-” He was cut off harshly by Geoffrey grabbing his shoulder and pushing him back against the couch. The hunter had moved to partially stand in front of him while he held him back.

“You will do no such thing. You have no idea what that… _thing_ is capable of. Promise me that you will not approach the Primate.” McCullum’s face was more stern than Reid had ever seen. And while he didn’t understand what had McCullum so vehemently against the idea, the eyes boring boring into his and grip on his shoulder were enough persuasion to give in to the demand. “I promise, Geoffrey. But I feel the need to ask about this...reaction.”

Geoffrey relaxed at the confirmation and sat back down, letting go of the doctor. His reaction had surprised himself, as well. The past leaders of the Guard had passed down what they knew of the Brotherhood and were particular in their warnings about the dangers of challenging a Primate. Even the men he had observing Talltree’s movements were instructed to keep their distance. “He is dangerous, Reid. A society of vampire sympathizers doesn’t just exist without power behind it. Had we the strength of the days of Kendal Stone, I would say otherwise. But for now, we have to play our cards right or that leech will end us.” Jonathan was at the very least confused by the claims. They did not seem consistent with his encounters. “He didn’t act like any vampire I’ve ever seen. Just a man obsessed with fortune telling.”

“That’s just how he acts around the ignorant. We don’t actually know what he is, but I see little other explanation. Probably didn’t attack you because he could tell you were a part of that whole Disaster shit and they had their eyes on you. Either way, he won’t be happy to see either of us after what happened with Swansea.”

“That...is probably true. But what other leads do we have? I cannot just drop this possibility.” McCullum concurred. This mystery had dangerous implications that he didn’t want to voice just yet. He just hoped his perception for danger was wrong this time. “Just because the Primate knows, doesn’t mean he is the only one in the Brotherhood who does. Those scholars are big on writing shit down. Investigate enough and we’ll find something.” Geoffrey stood up and walked a bit towards the door.

“And I’ve got a good place to start. We found a suspicious building owned by the Brotherhood a week ago. The place is supposedly boarded up, but the lights still come on and we still haven’t seen anyone go in or out. Was planning to take a squad out to break it in pretty soon, but looks like we can expedite that plan.” It was as good a place as any to start, Reid figured, so he stood as well.

“Don’t get too excited. Need to stop by the base to corral the lads and restock. I’m sure you’re all dying to meet each other. And Reid? This deal with Arthur stays between us.”

* * *

McCullum wasn’t lying about the proximity of the base. It was hardly a five minute walk down the street, but the area was comparatively a bustling centre. The contrast unusual, if nothing else. The guards patrolling the area were mostly too busy to notice the two approach the entrance. One at the gates, however, perked up when they caught his eye. The man hit the others to get their attention. “Evening, sir” they greeted in unison. The scene reminded Reid of his service, save for the scathing glares pointed his direction. That certainly wouldn’t fly in any regiment under the crown, but glares were preferred to gunshots.

“Hold your tongues, I already told you about our guest tonight. This leech here is Dr. Reid. Starting tonight I’ll be training him as a hunter.” McCullum ignored the protests from his men, more interested in hearing what Reid had to say. As expected, the doctor was frowning at him when he looked to his side.

“I came here to be a doctor, not a hunter, Geo-” a hand firmly clapping his back interrupted him. McCullum leaned in to whisper, “Just follow my lead” before removing his hand. A vampire showing insubordination would not instill much confidence in Geoffrey’s decision, so Reid just went along with it. “This one has proven to be different than the vermin we hunt, so I'm running a little experiment, see if I can’t train him to sit. Time being, Dr. Reid will be under my direct watch. I don’t trust you gits or him to be left alone with each other.” For what it was worth, the men didn’t vocalize their complaints over a low rumble as they walked past. Reid would have introduced himself, but he knew the effort would be wasted at the moment. But really, when would it not be wasted?

McCullum called out to round up some names Reid didn’t catch, too busy trying to stay in pace with the other’s brisk walk. They entered what Reid determined to be a makeshift infirmary, although it was too small to really call it that. Beds lined the wall but only three were occupied. The two men that were attending one patient turned to meet them as they opened the door.

“A bloody leech!” one cried out. The other appeared in either shock or awe, Reid couldn’t tell.

“Dr. Reid...? Is that really you?”

Everyone else in the room was astonished by the question. That another member of the Guard would know him was unexpected. McCullum was about to interrogate but Reid broke the silence first. “Forgive my rudeness, but have we met before?” The medic, he gathered, blushed a bit in embarrassment for assuming he would be recognized. “Yes, sir. I’m Oliver Easton. We served in the war together. I was one of many men whose lives you saved. Can’t blame you for not remembering.” Fear washed over his features when Oliver pulled himself back to the present. “Though, I never thought such a horrible fate would befall a good man like you.”

“I can assure you, Mr. Easton, I am still mostly the same man I was before. I do what I can to disallow this affliction from altering that.” He could tell Oliver was still nervous, but the news was taken better than he thought. “If McCullum trusts you enough to be here then I’m inclined to believe your words. Just don’t be surprised when the rest don’t. There’s actually a few more veterans in the Guard, a couple same regiment, though none from our battalion.” Perhaps there would yet be a way to gain the acceptance from Priwen’s men. It was a comforting idea, anyway. “Thank you for letting me know. I will be sure to keep that in mind as I introduce myself.”

Sensing the reunion nearing its close, McCullum used the opportunity to cut in. He had restocked the basic medical supplies while the two were chatting. They excused themselves from the room and returned to the courtyard where the two Priwen troops McCullum summoned awaited them. These two were much closer to what Jonathan was used to. They looked the same as any other member of the Guard with attitudes to match. Reid questioned why they were taking them along. He could handle an investigation by himself and Geoffrey was at least an interested party in any findings.

“They’re here for backup in case something happens. They’ll be keeping an eye out on the street.” Not that he trusted them to watch his back, but the reasoning was sound enough so he dropped the complaint. With that, they sat off to the supposed abandoned building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to put more in this chapter, but it's already filled with too much dialogue trash.  
> Next chapter finally has some action scenes.  
> The Brotherhood plot develops and we get some character development for Reid, too.


	5. Chapter 5

Reid could appreciate silence at times. Particularly stressful days that winded down with a nice cup of tea and just the sounds of a crackling fireplace came to mind. Silence could let the mind rest free from burden, detached from all the irrelevant details of the present. Or at least, it _could_ if one was snuggled by the fire on a cold winter night. It could also do the opposite and accentuate an air of hostility. Say, for example, walking down the dark streets of Whitechapel with two trigger happy hunters glaring daggers at the back of one’s head. The two had made it abundantly clear that tolerating his presence was taking a lot of restraint, and the walk from Southwark to Whitechapel wasn’t exactly brisk, either. The longer the silence dragged on, the more awkward he felt trying to break it. For all he knew, starting some smalltalk would be interpreted as a threat and they’d try to shoot him. He didn’t know what orders McCullum had given on how to treat him and he didn’t want to press his luck. In the periphery of his left side, he swore he could see the other man smirking. Thankfully for Reid, McCullum was strict about the importance of keeping focus while out on the streets.

“How many of them are following us?” McCullum asked just loud enough for the group to hear. The two hunters immediately did an about-face, guns drawn to their 6 o’clock. Even Reid stopped to turn around, surprised that someone could trail him without his notice. What they saw, however, was merely an empty street. The two hunters looked around erratically, aimlessly searching for anything that gave away a vampire hiding in the shadows.

“Don’t see anything, sir.”

“That’s because there’s nothing there, you gits. You’d know that if your eyes weren’t glued to the back of this one. Now get your heads out of your arses and keep a lookout for threats.” McCullum sometimes felt more like a disgruntled parent than the leader of an armed militia. One of the men was at least ashamed of being called out on their lack of situational awareness, but the other wouldn’t drop it so easily. “With all due respect, sir, I see a threat right next to you.” McCullum simply tilted his chin up and scowled, daring the hunter to keep talking back.

“And watching him is my job. _Your_ job is to watch my back. I didn’t bring you dunces along to transport a prisoner, so either shut up and do your job or get the fuck home.” McCullum turned to continue down the street, motioning to Reid to follow. The vampire gave the two a quick glance before scurrying to catch up to their leader. He felt a little more confident now that the silence had been broken. “I take it whatever you told them about me hasn’t convinced them that I don’t intend to harm them.” McCullum barked out a short laugh. 

“Hell, I’m not even sure about that!” Reid frowned at the him, tired with the constant questioning of his character. “They’ll come around if you give them a reason to. Every leech they’ve ever seen has been the same. Convince them you aren’t a threat.” He paused a moment before looking back at the man by his side. His eyes held a hint of sadness while he murmured softly so only they could hear. “...Convince me this isn’t temporary.”

Reid didn’t know what to make of the unexpected sympathy. It was perhaps the first time since his rebirth someone had felt sorry for what he was. He stared back with wide eyes, unable to form a better response than a confirmation. “I will, Geo-, sir.” He stumbled upon how to address his, now technically, boss. Fitting in would mean going with the flow, and the doctor had yet to hear McCullum referred to so casually. He would have found the snort he received for his effort rude if not for the ghost of a smile he saw. “Come on then. It’s just up ahead.”

The building was lodged away down an alley behind St. Mary’s. As they approached, Reid took notice of the indeed boarded windows and doors. If someone really was using this space, they certainly were not entering through normal means. He postulated supplementary entry points through the connected building or perhaps the roof, but McCullum was already moving. “Bates, hand over your axe. We’re taking her down.” One of the other two hunters that had followed at a safe distance away from them came closer to hand over a woodcutting axe, keeping an eye on the vampire for sudden movements. His attention was brought back when McCullum gave out their orders to patrol the immediate vicinity. As they left to do so, Reid made to suggest searching for an easier point of entrance, but was interrupted by the loud bang of the axe against wood. _Well, he’s already started, I suppose._ It didn’t take too long for McCullum to break through the boards and then the door itself. When he deemed it loose enough, he threw a heavy kick against the door causing it to burst open. An unrefined yet effective method.

Reid realized he had been slacking off watching this all pan out, and attempted to sense if anybody was lurking inside the building. When he confirmed with McCullum that there was no trace of life, they entered slowly. Reid took the lead on the off chance a trap had been set, knowing he was much more likely to recover than a human. As they passed through the ingress, they entered a room with various equipment scattered around, equipment the doctor knew well. “This is...a laboratory?” Microscopes, flasks, and vials lined the desktops along with stacks of notebooks and journals. Among the Petri dishes, he could see some contained samples of a solution that he presumed to be blood, going by the evidence of used syringes. The room was certainly no freelance medical dispensary. It was a small scale research operation. But for what, he could not tell.

A closed door on the opposite wall caught his eye, most likely a closet. Something about a closed door in a room of such disarray felt eerily suspicious, so he approached it slowly. Despite bracing himself for the worst, Reid shouted and jumped back several feet when he opened it. McCullum reacted quickly, joining his side and drawing his sword, but fell into the same horrified torpor as the vampire. Just inside the storage closet hanged a naked body by its neck. Both men had seen abhorrent sights in the past either via war or hunt, but neither had seen anything like this before. Where the corpse’s eyes should be were only empty sockets and its chest cavity held open in what Reid recognized as a dissection procedure. The body was nearly completely devoid of fluids and from what Reid could smell, not a trace of blood. Even a vampire could not drain the blood from all tissues while feeding. This was no mere corpse; it was a cadaver. “Oi, Reid. Check its mouth. Are those fangs?” Sure enough, he could make out the obvious profile of fangs. This was becoming more worrisome by the second. “This was...an ekon used for some kind of experiment. It is definitely dead. The heart has long since been removed.” For what, though, was the real question.

Lost in thought, Reid barely heard the sound from behind them before seeing a large mass fly at McCullum. Fortunately, the hunter’s experience had served him well enough not to be distracted so easily. With his sword already drawn, he was able to deflect the lunging figure away. 

“ _You! Priwen scum! You killed him!_ ” The unknown figure had the appearance of a man, but its crazed eyes indicated something more akin to a skal. Reid wasn’t given further time to guess when it leaped at the hunter again, unleashing a flurry of strikes at inhuman speed with a hacksaw. McCullum focused all of his effort into blocking the strikes since the vampire had gotten too close to swing his sword effectively. Reid realized if this continued, the other would be backed into a corner. Exploiting the beast’s attention on McCullum, he contracted the muscles of his arm to prepare a blood shield then leaped between the two. The crazed vampire’s strike bounced off it instantly, causing it to burst and force the beast back. Quick to catch on, McCullum used to opportunity to draw his revolver and fire, sacrificing accuracy for speed. The bullet connected but hit above the clavicle. That wouldn’t kill it, but it did at least stun it long enough for Reid to pull a stake from his coat and follow up with another lunge, impaling the vampire through the heart before it had a chance to recover. With a final choked breath, it collapsed to its knees and keeled over. They both stood alert, waiting to confirm the death.

“I thought you said you didn’t see anything!”

“I didn’t! There was no one here when we came in.” Reid looked around the room and noticed an open hatch that led to the roof of the building. The hunter followed his eyes and sighed heavily. “Investigation, my arse. Am I leading a fucking primary school?” As if on cue, the two patrolling hunters barged into the building, weapons at the ready. “Sir! We heard- oh...” Evans cut himself off when he saw the body sprawled out on the floor. “Well don’t just stand there. Both of you get back out there outside and watch the bloody roof for any more leeches dropping in.” McCullum wasn’t too concerned with that possibility now that he and Reid were on guard. The order was primarily to get the two away from the fresh corpse. Something about it didn’t seem consistent with other vermin he had put down. The weight of the cool metal in his hand reminded him how the leech responded to taking damage.

“There’s something different about this one. It hardly even reacted to the orichalcum power when I shot it. In all my years, I’ve never seen a leech so quiet while getting hit.” McCullum stared hard at the body, half expecting it to spring up and attack again. Reid agreed with the observation. Skals that succumbed to madness were very much vocal about...well, everything. “He did recognize you as from the Guard of Priwen, though. His fixation with you was rather intense as well. It seemed he blamed you for killing someone?” Grudges were nothing new for McCullum. Countless leeches sought out revenge against the Guard so he didn’t think much of it. 

Suddenly, Reid caught the scent of blood in the air. The stab wound had leaked a significant amount of blood onto the floor. He could typically ignore the smell of spilled blood after combat, but this smell was out of place. It was tainted by something, undoubtedly, but it smelled like...human blood. The doctor began to panic and flipped the body over with his foot to examine the corpse’s teeth. McCullum watched as Reid confirmed it. As he feared, the incisors were much too short and dull, even for a skal. “This doesn’t make any sense. Its movements were clearly not human. Was this man in the primary stages of turning into a skal? No, his mental state was far too lost to anger for an initial case.” McCullum interrupted his ramblings, 

“Wait, I’ve seen this one before. He’s one of the Stole boys’ Watchers.”

“The Brotherhood? Well that at least explains why he’s here. It might be too early to say, but I’d wager this man was in charge of this laboratory.” A normal human would have to scale the building to access the roof just to get in. “Between his...condition and the ekon cadaver in the closet, I am worried. These circumstances are reminiscent of human experimentation using vampire blood.” Whoever this Watcher was, he obviously wanted to keep his research hidden to this boarded up laboratory. If the research needed to be kept to secrecy, it was either unethical or dangerous, or both. They needed to shut down whatever operation this was before some new vampire epidemic could spread with the remnants of the Spanish Flu. Alas, their only lead was a bloody mess on the floor. “What else do you know about him?” McCullum shrugged his shoulders.

“Not much. We lost track of him a few months ago, but that’s not uncommon with Watchers. Usually means they stuck their nose into some leech business they shouldn’t have. Historically, they haven’t been much of a threat themselves, so we let them be unless we suspect something.” After this, though, he would need to re-evaluate that policy. Swansea was supposed to be a one off, but if more of the Brotherhood’s grunts were implicated in freak science experiments, Priwen’s charter may need amending.

“Then we’re left with what’s in this room, I’m afraid. Let’s hope he left something more conclusive in his notes.” The two men split up to gather all of the writings, torn or otherwise, from around the room into a pile. Of the articles, they filtered out the academic journals due to how much time it would consume to interpret them and divided what was left of the various letters and notes between each other, skimming them for any obvious leads. The letters at least identified the man as Samuel Rhodes, but most contained nothing of interest. That was until the sender of one captured Reid’s attention.

“ _From Dr. Edgar Swansea._ ”

Dr. Swansea was somehow involved in this? He knew McCullum would not be happy to hear it, but was surprised by his own ire. If there were other ‘test subjects’ besides Harriet, just how long had this experimentation been going on? Reid forced himself to set aside his host of questions and read the damned thing. McCullum waited patiently while he did so, unable to concentrate on his own stack of papers. “It appears Swansea and Rhodes were well acquainted in the Brotherhood. They shared an interest in the regenerative powers of the immortals. This letter is a response to Rhodes’s enquiry on alternative methods to obtain ekon blood. Heh, even Swansea discouraged attempting to capture an ekon.” The next lines he read were paralyzing. Reid gripped the letter tight and read it again multiple times to verify. “No...that can’t be…”

McCullum began to worry when he saw the other’s terrified expression. “Reid? What is it? What does it say?” The vampire wasn’t listening. Instead, he was fervently searching the room for something, tearing through drawers until he found a metal case. Before he could open it, he was interrupted by a raised voice. 

“Reid!” He looked to the hunter that had come to his side like he had forgotten the other was there. “You’re going to tell me what you are getting worked up over. RIght now. That’s an order.” The doctor took a deep breath to compose himself and looked sadly between McCullum and the case. “Dr. Swansea obliged Rhodes’s need for more ekon blood and sent over samples until Rhodes could procure his own.” He opened the silver case slowly to reveal 3 sealed vials of blood. McCullum gave him a questioning look, not understanding what the issue was. “Dr. Swansea only had access to one ekon’s blood around the time this letter was written. This blood is almost certainly came from Lady Ashbury.” A wave of recognition washed over the hunter’s face. As long as the cursed blood existed, it was possible the vampire epidemic Reid just stopped could rise again. “Then we have to destroy it before another plague wipes out what’s left of this city.”

“No!” Reid clutched the case close to himself and flinched away. “If we destroy these samples there will be no way to make a _real_ cure. If there was anyone possessed by the lingering remnants of the Blood of Hate, there would be no way to save them.” McCullum found the argument unconvincing. “Then we save them the same way we saved all the others. Put them out of their misery. Why does this matter so much to you, anyway?”

Reid was affronted by the retort. “The ones we killed were too far lost to their suffering! Are you saying those not succumbed to the madness deserve to die? ...Are you saying that she was right, that there’s no hope for a cure?” His voice had broken and he spent all his effort trying to remain calm. There was a long silence before he felt McCullum rest a hand on his upper back.

“This is about the red head, then? From what you’ve told me, that wasn’t your fault. You can’t just blame yourself, Reid. You have to put this behind you or you’ll never move forward.” McCullum knew he wasn’t good at consoling others but he wasn’t sure what else to do. A mentally unstable vampire was a dangerous vampire. The small rubbing motions on the vampire’s hunched back seemed to help the other relax, though.

“It’s not that simple, Geoffrey. I can’t just ignore that she died because she didn’t believe in me. I finally have a chance to prove her wrong and I don’t want to let it go.” Geoffrey could understand where he was coming from, but still,

“Will finding that out really allow you move on? What if you discover there is no cure? Are you planning on wallowing in this forever?” He hesitated before continuing, knowing how embarrassing the words he wanted to say were. He felt stupid saying it out loud, but did anyway. “I know you are strong, Reid. I gave you a chance with Priwen because I saw that strength in you. So even if you don’t believe in yourself...I do.” 

That opened Jonathan’s eyes to a different side of Geoffrey he hadn’t seen before. Lately, he had regarded the man as an acquaintance recently turned friend. But this was a level of openness he hadn’t felt with another since Clarence. To have the hunter put his confidence in him so readily made Jonathan want to believe in the strength Geoffrey saw, too. He straightened his back and resolved himself to see that through. For several long moments he stared hard at the case in his hand, watching his reflection in against the glass vials. “You’re right, Geoffrey. These are too dangerous to be allowed in this world. The off chance that someone finds and uses them even without malicious intent is an unacceptable risk. My goal since the night I was reborn has been to end the vampire epidemic. So long as this blood exists, I have not yet won.” Jonathan took the vials from the case and laid them on the floor, grabbed a loose board that was leaned against the wall, placed it on top of the glass tubes, and unceremoniously stomped. Despite the unmistakable crushing sound, he lifted the board to confirm that each vial had been destroyed. The open air would destroy the blood in a matter of minutes. He looked back to Geoffrey and gave a small smile, receiving one in return.

That...had gone better than McCullum had expected. He was proud that Jonathan determined to rid the world of the, hopefully, last of the spiteful blood. Not that he would tell him that. He’d been more than sappy enough for one night. Generally, he would advise against destroying any potential piece of evidence in an investigation, but he was confident that he had a good idea of what was going on. Though they could save that until tomorrow to deduce. “Alright, I think we’re at a good stopping point for tonight. Let’s get out of this dump,” he said roughly and turned to walk out the front door. Jonathan was surprised by the sudden retreat, but quickly followed to find McCullum ordering the two outside to run ahead and start a cleanup and salvage operation. As they watched the two hunters hurry back towards Southwark, McCullum answered the question he predicted would come. “No reason to try and solve this all tonight. Besides, we’ve got a curfew to meet now that I’ve got a leech on the team.”

That was true, Reid realized. The sky was already becoming lighter, but they still had a good two or so hours left before needing to worry. Though, he wasn’t going to complain. It had been a long night after all and he was becoming tired. The two men set out to return to Geoffrey’s accommodations. Without the other hunters, the walk felt more like a stroll on the town after a late night at the pub. Jonathan could hardly remember the feeling since it had been so long. Between his profession, the war, rebirth, and the epidemic he hadn’t had the chance to partake in leisures of life, nor keep up with those he should. He asked Geoffrey, time permitting, if he could take tomorrow night to visit his old neighborhood in the West End. It would be easy enough to face his poor, demented mother, but Clarence would be a different matter. In his earlier turmoil, he acknowledged that his personal issues had caused him to neglect his friend when he needed him most. But perhaps he could fix that before it was too late.

Eventually, they arrived in front of his quarters. Jonathan was in a surprisingly good mood and decided to end the night with a little joking around in the most smug voice he could muster. “Thank you for the escort, Geoffrey, but I’m afraid we must part for the night. That is, unless you wish to walk me to the door as well.” The shock on Geoffrey’s face lasted only a second before morphing into a similar smirk. He knew he could play this game much better than some West End snob. “Well, pardon me. I did not presume Her Ladyship to be so eager for my company. But worry not, if loneliness should ail you...” he leaned forward to speak roughly next to Jonathan’s ear, “just remember whose bed it is you sleep in.”

Jonathan flushed a bit at the suggestive joke, but ended up laughing at the truth of the statement. Returning to their normal voices, they parted. “Goodnight, Geoffrey.” The hunter shook his head but didn’t lose his smirk. “Again, it’s already morning. Sleep well, Jonathan.”

He watched Geoffrey walk away and then made his way to the house, closing the door behind him and hanging his coat on the nearby rack. As he stood alone in the empty room, he gave the space a more thorough look over than he had before. It was hard to imagine calling it his home, especially since his family’s manor wasn’t too far, but some unpacking would make it at least feel like someone lived there. The box on the table beckoned, but he decided against it until tomorrow. _A little procrastination never hurt anyone._ The only thing he was going to do was get ready for bed. He stripped down to his pants and laid his clothes neatly on the couch, so as not to wrinkle, then slipped under the covers of the bed. The coolness of the sheets was relaxing, and now that he was so close, he could make out a familiar lingering scent in them. Geoffrey’s words echoed through his head and provoked a smile. Even if it was only a joke, it was a welcome thought. For the first time in over a month, Jonathan fell asleep without feeling alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> McCullum should really consider a career in counseling, or maybe I'm just bad at writing in character :V  
> Next chapter we get to meet everyone's favorite shell shocked friend.


	6. Chapter 6

A full twelve hours had passed since Reid had fallen asleep. It had been ages since he had been able to sleep so well, much less been allowed to. Serving in the Great War had commanded an unhealthy schedule almost daily. And when he finally could return home, every night had been booked by an odyssey he never asked for. There was no way he was going to give up the rest he had been denied for so long. The hard part now was motivating himself to get up. He contemplated how bad would it really be if he laid around in bed for just one more hour. Chastising himself for his childish thoughts, he forced himself to roll out of bed and get ready for the night. On their walk back last night, McCullum had told him, unless otherwise directed, to report at headquarters every night like the rest of the Guard. Even if he had requested the night off, Reid felt obligated to stop by since it was so close.

Despite his attempt to keep a low profile, the guards at the main gate obviously recognized him as he approached, hateful glares set hard on their faces. They didn’t respond when he greeted them, but at least their firearms remained low. Reid considered the lack of direct threats progress as he walked past them. The courtyard was just as busy as last night. A handful of hunters standing around and others moving to and fro. Those that noticed made obvious steps to move out of his way, either in fear or disgust. He could hear the hushed conversations as he walked by.

“Who does that fucking leech think he is, waltzin’ in here?”

“Oi, lay off or McCullum’ll have your head! You know that one’s off limits.”

“Yea, well I think McCullum’s out of _his_ head lettin’ this one live.”

Getting caught up in a pointless argument wouldn’t put him in any beneficial position, so Reid ignored it and looked around to locate McCullum until he heard a noise from behind. Two men were running a stretcher through the front gate with a badly injured patient. He recognized one of the men as the medic he had met again last night.

“Dr. Reid! We need immediate assistance. Please follow me,” Oliver stated more than suggested.

Before he could comprehend what assistance, exactly, they had run ahead into the headquarters infirmary. As the door closed, the other hunters in the courtyard all aimed their questioning gazes at Reid as he scurried along away from the prying eyes. When he entered the infirmary himself, he found the patient bleeding profusely from his neck. Now that they were inside a closed room, the air was filled with the smell of blood. Reid stood strong, reminding himself that there was work to be done. After all, this was what he had been hired to do. He strode to the makeshift operating table next to Oliver.

“What’s his status, Easton.”

“Multiple lacerations on the neck, doctor. His group claims he was slashed by an Ekon’s claws.”

It was a critical situation to operate on. A human wouldn’t survive for long if the carotid artery was damaged. That the man was still breathing, albeit in shock, suggested that was not the case. A quick examination of the wound verified his suspicion. The man was lucky that the most critical blood vessel had been missed. He would have felt more relieved if not for the amount of bleeding from the minor branches of the jugular vein. Acting quickly, he sutured the obvious cuts in the veins and then stitched what he could of the less damaged flesh. They had to cover the parts of the skin that were too torn apart to stitch. It would probably heal decently, Reid concluded. With the rest of the operation completed, they focused on stabilizing the patient.

“You all did a good job keeping the blood loss under control, but he will still suffer from anemia. Do we know his blood type so that we can set up a transfusion?”

Oliver looked at him displeased before sighing. “Unfortunately, we are not anywhere near as well equipped as a proper hospital, Dr. Reid. The war was one thing, but we don’t even know the blood types of the men, much less have the necessary transfusion apparatus.”

Reid felt embarrassed for making such an assumption. He had overlooked how his station at Pembroke afforded him such luxuries. At this juncture, the best they could offer the patient was rest. The man was barely conscious but still met Reid’s face when the doctor leaned in to speak.

“You’re going to be fine, sir. Your injuries will have you out of commission for some time, so focus on resting.” The patient could only nod in comprehension, unable to speak. As he turned to tell Easton to keep an eye on the patient, he was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. McCullum had entered the room without him noticing, and by the pleased look on his face, had seen Reid perform the surgery.

“You did well, doctor, but I recall telling you to take the damn night off.”

“I was just checking in, McCullum. Though it seems I get caught up in excitement wherever I go. I am glad I caught you, though. I wanted to ask if the salvage returned any equipment that could be reused here. I need to itemize what is needed for investigation and research purposes.”

McCullum gave a short laugh. “How the hell would I know? Fancy equipment is your thing. What we brought back is in the room out the door to the left. Two doors down. Go take a look then get out of here. Didn’t give you a break just to have you show up here anyway.”

With that, McCullum took his leave. Reid gave his thanks and farewell to the medics and patient before doing the same. The room he had been directed to was being used for storage. For all the junk that had been recovered, he was surprised to find at least some equipment was still in useable condition. There was still more he would need to truly work, but this at least lessened the burden of what he would have to obtain. The doctor jotted a list down and left the headquarters, setting out for the West End. 

On the way, he considered the possibility of borrowing money from his family’s estate or reaching out his contacts in the medical community to purchase what he was missing. His thoughts are interrupted when he pushed open the quarantine gate to main avenue of the West End. The lack of voices in the air was unsettling, far too silent for the location. He supposed that Charlotte’s absence had to do with managing her mother’s inheritance. She would finally have the ability to make the progress she so desired. Yet, at what cost? Reid frowned and hoped he would not have to face her any time in the near future.

As he walked further, the lack of another became apparent. Clarence was also missing from his usual spot. The posters warning of vampires were still arrayed along the walls, just without their author warning the populace. It had been quite some time since he had visited, so perhaps Clarence had relocated his battle elsewhere or was simply at home. A nagging sense of worry was growing in his head, but he wasn’t going to jump to early conclusions. He took the turn down towards Clarence’s house walking faster than he would admit. As he peered inside, he could feel only Venus, no sign of his friend. He grit his teeth at who he was about to ask for help and knocked on the door.

“Yes?” The woman’s expression soured as she recognized who was standing at her door. To Reid, the feeling was mutual. “Jonathan. Are you here to ruin my marriage even more?” Reid would have none of the spite in her tone. Unlike for the hunters of the Guard, he had no reason to tiptoe around his speech.

“You already did that yourself by betraying your husband’s trust. But I’m not here to talk about this rubbish. I’m looking for Clarence. Tell me where he is.” His voice was stern, but he was not yet using his influence to force an answer. Although he was not far from resorting to it.

“How should I know? He’s outside like he is every night.” Relief and worry clashed together in his head. On one hand she didn’t know where the man was, but on the other he was at least alive earlier that day. Without another word, Reid turned and left the woman standing at the door. He was now very blatantly walking faster than normal as he searched the streets for any sign. The other nocturnal citizens of the district were appropriately accounted for and still nothing. As he was on his way further into the West End, the park caught his attention and provoked a recollection. In their childhood, Clarence would come to a certain spot in the park when he was upset. Sure enough, he could make out Clarence hunched over on a bench. And yet, the solace he sought was still out of reach. Another man was pacing slowly in front of his friend, moving in a what he interpreted as a predatory manner. When Clarence stood up and started to walk away with the man it was all but confirmed. To anyone else, it would seem like a man escorting a drunken friend, but to Reid, he could tell immediately the haze the other was under was a vampire’s trance. Suddenly, his heart was pounding and he was seeing red. Anger consumed him as he dashed towards them.

He would not allow his best friend to be killed by some bloody Ekon. When he was close enough to be detected, he slipped into the shadows to stalk them. The Ekon had led Clarence to an isolated point in the back of the park where no one would notice the screams. Reid had rounded in front of them and drew a stake. He waited for a clean angle to strike, knowing the vampire would let its guard down as soon as it began feed. When the Ekon looked around and determined no one could see, he smirked and pulled Clarence’s neck to the side for easier access. But as soon as he opened his mouth, he felt a strong hand grab his face and rip him off his prey. Unable to keep his balance, the vampire couldn’t react in time to prevent his head from violently colliding with the ground, nor the searing burn of the stake lodged in his heart.

Reid looked down spitefully on the Ekon’s quickly dying body, infuriated that had he not been there, Clarence would be just another among the dead. Infuriated even more that this could have happened any night before this and he wouldn’t have even known until now. He used his foot to stomp the stake deeper for good measure, ignoring the beast’s dying moans. Attempting to calm his rage, he turned to meet his friend who was coming out of his trance.

“Johnny? Where am I? I was just at the…” he gasped in fright at the dead body then paled at seeing the stake sticking out of its heart. “A vampire! Oh God, why!” Reid took the man by his shoulders and gave his a shake.

“It isn’t safe here, Clarence. We need to get you inside, now. Get ahold of yourself and come on.” He pushed his friend towards the park’s exit and forced him to walk.

“Get ahold of myself?! I was just attacked by a vampire, Johnny! The very creature I have been trying to warn the city about! How do you expect me to be calm when I wake up standing beside a dead vampire and…” Clarence’s eyes widened as he realized he didn’t have an explanation for Jonathan being at the scene. “Johnny...did you...kill that vampire? Are you the one who saved me?”

Jonathan was not prepared to answer that question, but it was the only reason he would be there. Even if he had rescued his friend, confessing that he, too, was a vampire would only cause Clarence to panic even more. He struggled for a response. There had to be something he could use that wouldn’t make the situation worse.

“I did. By chance, I saw it take you off to kill you and I put an end to it. I...am actually a hunter with the Guard of Priwen.” Not technically a lie. Thankfully Clarence did not see him attack the vampire with inhuman speed and precision. That would have been a lot harder to explain.

“A vampire hunter? You? Johnny, I don’t unders-”

“You weren’t supposed to understand! I tried to keep you out of this! I tried to dissuade you from making a target out of yourself!” Jonathan stopped his scolding when he saw the look of fear Clarence was giving him. He sighed and told him he would explain everything later. The closet place Reid knew Clarence would be safe was his family’s house. They quickly made their way through the park gates and to the front door where Avery greeted them.

“Mr. Jonathan, welcome back. And my, Mr. Crossley, it’s been a long time.”

“Avery, Clarence is not feeling well. Would you put some tea on for him?” The butler gave the terrified man a quick once-over and agreed it would be for the best. When he was out of earshot, Jonathan lightly led Clarence inside, remaining outside by himself.

“My friend, I need you to listen to me. You are to stay inside from sunset to sunrise. Let no one aside from me enter during that period. I will return shortly. Just need to secure the area.” He didn’t let Clarence question him before closing the door. As soon as the man was out of his view, his expression returned to unbridled fury. He made a sharp turn towards the nearby - too nearby - walled in club. Reid had recognized the Ekon he killed as a lord from the Ascalon Club. Whether this was revenge against his betrayal or not, he would not allow anyone to target his friends or family. He stormed over to the impressive red front door and gave it a few hard bangs. 

When Arthur Pembleton slid open the Judas, he made it clear Reid was unwelcome. “You would do well to leave now, traitor, before every Ekon in this building tries to kill you.” Despite the hostile tone, Reid was having none of it. He would show the club true hostility.

“I am going to speak with Lord Redgrave. _Now_. Or I will tear the roof off of this building, restrain each of you, and drag your worthless bodies into tomorrow’s sun to burn. Do not test me, Arthur.”

The doorman said nothing, but let him in with a scowl and escorted him to Redgrave’s office. The leader himself was less than happy to see the doctor. “And to what do I owe the displeasure of seeing a traitor in my club? I have far too much to attend to to deal with you, Dr. Reid.” The old vampire was no kinder the last time they had met, but this time Reid was much more vindictive.

“One of your members attacked my best friend tonight. Targeting me is one thing, but I will not permit you to target those close to me ever again. Forbid your club from doing so or I will make you regret it.” Redgrave was unimpressed by the admonition. In his many years, he had dealt with numerous threatening words far worse than an upset newborn’s. “Ascalon has no interest in directing our revenge on your cherished ones, only the betrayer himself. So long as it does not happen within these walls, our members are free to select their prey at their own discretion. That your friend fell victim is merely an unfortunate coincidence.”

That answer did not pacify the doctor. “Coincidence? How can you speak so nonchalantly about the people you murder?”

“Murder is the wrong perspective. Our kind feeds on humans not unlike how humans feed on cattle, a fact you must face eventually, newborn. Ascalon has the responsibility to lead this country in ways mortals cannot. The sacrifices to enable that end pale in comparison to those that live on.”

Reid was shocked into silence. He of course knew this was how the Ascalon Club operated, but he had never faced the opinion head on. Humans were as expendable as cattle? Leading the country by murder of its people? The thoughts rushed through his head until he snapped. 

“You...bloody _leech!_ I was going to let you off with a warning, but I see now that your existence is the real threat to this country.” He had resolved himself to slaughter every last vampire in the club, his answer to keeping his friends safe. “Did you think I would let you leave alive regardless? You are already trapped in the lion’s den, doctor. Your threats are empty here, and playing Nemrod will get you nowhere.” The lords of the club had already gathered outside the door, ready to fight. Where a cocky smirk would usually be, Reid’s face only held a scowl.

“Old as you are, I do not fear an Ekon whose blood can barely sire a Skal.” Redgrave glared back at him. “We shall see.”

* * *

After Reid had left the Priwen headquarters, McCullum waited a minute before trailing him, keeping a large enough distance to avoid being discovered. While his experience at tracking vampires allowed him to remain unseen, it came with the disadvantage of being unable to hear. The result was having no idea why Reid had began hurrying through the streets, making it much harder for McCullum to watch him. On the plus side, he would at least get to observe if the vampire would lose control in a stressful situation. He followed the vampire to the park when suddenly Reid vanished into a cloud of black smoke.

_Shit, did he catch on?_ He prepared himself for Reid popping up beside him, but it didn’t come. The park seemed like the most likely place he had gone, so McCullum began a sweep through it. What he found was a dead leech, in what he assumed was Reid’s doing, and from the vantage point he could just barely make out the doctor leading another man out of the park. With the vampire slowed by his company, McCullum was able to catch up to see him leave the man at his house and then storm off to that Ascalon nest.

McCullum began to worry that he had misplaced his trust. Had Reid made an excuse just to report in to Ascalon Club? The doubt hurt more than he expected, but it was why he was following him in the first place. To his relief, he was close enough to hear the doctor threaten the doorman, loudly he might add. It was good that they seemed to be on bad terms, but now he was stuck outside. It was too dangerous to approach without being prepared to fight and he hadn’t exactly planned on trying to take down a group of the strongest vampires in the city. At a loss, he waited outside for a few minutes. His growing impatience was answered by the loud thud against the front door and muffled cries of battle. _Christ, he actually picked a fight with Ascalon by himself_. McCullum equipped his crossbow and drew his sword then ran at the door to kick it in. His prayers that it hadn’t been re-enforced since the Great Hunt were answered when it gave in with a little effort.

Before he had broken in, his goal was to find Reid and get out alive. But now that he stood inside, he thought that might not be necessary. Three dead or injured vampires were scattered through the main hall and Reid was currently engaging two others in battle. The one he assumed must have been thrown at the door raised his hand to aim at Reid from the floor, but McCullum swiftly beheaded the leech in its vulnerable position. He then turned his attention to the two versus one. Reid was managing to dodge every blow thrown at him, but McCullum was more concerned with the look of rage on his face. His attention was brought back by the spear of blood the doctor had launched that connected with one of the two. Sensing an opening, McCullum decided now was the time to turn the tables. He let loose three bolts from his crossbow at the impaled vampire, bringing it to its knees.

The shots finally made Reid aware that McCullum was there. He might not have been able to handle this by himself and was extremely grateful for the help. Fighting Lord Redgrave and four other Ekons at the same time was harder than he expected. He left the injured vampire to McCullum to finish off in order to focus his full attention on the last one left, Redgrave himself. 

The Ekon in question was appalled when he recognized the man helping Reid. “Priwen? Is this some sort of sick joke? You are more powerful than any mortal and yet you submit to hunters of all men? You truly are a disgrace to all Ekon.” Redgrave unleashed his own blood spears at Reid which were either dodged or deflected. The older vampire was much more familiar using his skills, but Reid had evaded much worse in his struggle against the Red Queen. Striking back was the real issue. Even if Redgrave’s shadow doppelgangers were hardly a threat, they kept him from engaging in close combat. He knew Redgrave would prevail in a battle of endurance since he probably gorged himself to keep his blood supply high.

Suddenly, a canister of sort fell in the space between them, violently spewing a colored gas. He heard McCullum cry out his name in warning as the cloud rapidly expanded, creating a smokescreen. Reid did not understand what McCullum was warning him about until he saw the hunter pull out a lighter and run for cover. He dashed to his own safe spot.

Redgrave was unimpressed by the tactic. Even a Skal could make out their hiding locations through the smokescreen. The gas hardly even had a smell, meaning it didn’t mask the two mens’ scents. It wasn’t until he caught sight of a flicker of light thrown in an arc that he grasped that the smokescreen was a decoy. All at once, the gas ignited and the searing flames burned where Redgrave’s defense could not cover. He wouldn’t be taken down by fire so easily, but it had created the opening Reid needed. Shadows burst from floor beneath Redgrave and hoisted him into the air. The Ekon’s attempts to free himself were ended by the monstrous shadow fang that pierced his body. When it fell limply to the ground, McCullum cautiously walked over and decapitated it to put an end to any possible regeneration. Both Reid and McCullum stood on edge, hesitant to believe that one of the oldest vampires in London was truly dead. They scanned the area once more just in case any latecomers had joined the brawl.

When he saw no one, Reid breathed a sigh of relief, his pulse returning to its usual slow rate. He finally could turn to address McCullum’s mysterious presence, but as he did he caught scent of the man’s blood. His senses became dulled. His sight grey and hearing muted as all he could focus on was the blood leaking from the hunter’s arm. The overwhelming sensation was somehow different than his usual hunger. He wanted to drink but also to...preserve that blood forever. This new sensation was so hypnotic that he didn’t realize how lost in his thoughts he was until he heard shouting.

“Jonathan!”

He gasped and blinked his eyes in an attempt to clear his head. McCullum was now much closer, but looking around he realized he was the one that had moved.

“The hell is wrong with you? You were fine during surgery, but you’re staring at my arm like you’ve lost control.”

_His arm!_ Remembering what had captivated him, Reid moved to get a better look while holding his breath. It was just a shallow cut that he could clean later. For now, he applied pressure and dressed the wound. McCullum watched him with a hard stare as he did so, clearly uncomfortable. He felt like he already knew the answer, but he had to confirm. In a soft voice he asked, “you were thinking about feeding on me, yeah?”

Reid averted his eyes, embarrassed at being called out. There was no was to avoid the question. Not if he could ever expect Geoffrey’s trust. “Yes, but something was different about this time. I don’t know what brought this on, but I felt an urge calling out to me to conserve your blood, to protect the source so that I could drink from it again and again. This is the first time I’ve experienced anything like it. It is a very...conflicting feeling.”

“Are you starving or something? I’ve never heard anything of the sort.”

He reflected on the current status of his hunger. “Not any worse than I’ve experienced before. Though I am running lower than usual after that fight. Speaking of which, why are you here?”

McCullum gave him a derisive snort. “Have you forgotten it’s my job to keep you under surveillance and on a leash? I followed you from the base to see if I could trust you on your own. I’ve got to say, getting upset and raiding Ascalon in a one man crusade doesn’t instill much confidence in your control, Reid. Are you always going to act like a lunatic when you get a wee bit stressed?”

Reid was ashamed at the truth in the words. In hindsight, he knew he had acted irrationally once he knew Clarence was missing. “I’m sorry, Geoffrey. Watching my best friend nearly die right in front of me awakened a rage I couldn’t...or rather, didn’t want to control. I wanted to punish the monsters that would hurt him. Somehow I thought I could intimidate them into backing off, but I couldn’t hold back after hearing how unremorseful they were about murder.” He made a sad smirk. “I think I finally understand how you feel about vampires…”

“Most of ‘em anyway.” McCullum wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of being directly praised after pulling a stunt like this. “Who was that man, anyway?”

“Oh! Right. He is my childhood friend. I have to return to him. I’ll introduce the two of you.” With that, Jonathan picked himself up and they made the short walk to his house. McCullum spoke before they entered, “how much does he know?” The doctor hesitated before answering.

“He knows vampires exist, but not about me. But, I promised to tell him everything so I will.” Both hunters groaned at that prospect. They entered the door to greet Avery. He informed them Clarence was in the sitting room before Jonathan requested privacy. They found Clarence huddled in a chair with a half empty cup of tea next to him. The man rose up to meet the doctor.

“Johnny? You’re back! Why did you leave me here? Is it really safe? Please, tell me what is goi-” The hysterical man was interrupted by his head being shoved into Jonathan’s shoulder. Jonathan embraced him silently for several minutes until Clarence returned the hug, his heart rate slowing down to normal. Only then did he let out a low laugh. “I can’t remember the last time I had to hold you like this. Well over twenty years and you’re still a baby.”

“Shut it, Johnny,” he mumbled. They released each other and stepped back a bit. For the first time, Clarence noticed the other man standing awkwardly in the room. “Who is he?” he asked, a little embarrassed at having been watched in such a pitiful state.

“This is my friend Geoffrey McCullum, but more importantly he is also my boss and leader of the Guard of Priwen. Geoffrey, this is my dearest friend Clarence Crossley.” Clarence was rightfully surprised and unable to contain his excitement. “You really are a vampire hunter then? Priwen has come up in my search for information so many times. They’re protectors of the city, nay the nation! But then…” Clarence’s expression fell into a frown the more he thought. “Why did you keep this from me? You knew my marriage was in trouble on this very subject! You could have supported me to convince Venus, but instead you tell me my wife was poisoning me. Why, Johnny? Everyone could have been happy. Why would you let me suffer like that?”

Reid felt crushed with guilt, even though he knew better. “Forgive me, Clarence. I thought the less you knew, the better off you would be. It was wrong of me to leave you in the dark like this for so long.” Concerned eyes stared back at him after he spoke. “You were always bad at hiding things with me. What aren’t you telling me?” McCullum tried to cover his laugh with a cough, but got a smack to the side regardless.

“There is another reason I did not tell you sooner. My employ with the Guard is a recent arrangement, but I did know about all of this before that.” He took a deep breath. Now or never, he supposed. “The truth, Clarence, is that I too am a vampire.”

The revelation took a moment to sink in before Clarence stumbled backwards. “You aren’t joking, are you?” Jonathan tried to take a step forward, which only caused the man to flinch back further. “Stay back! Please, Johnny, I can’t. I don’t want to die.” McCullum tried to interject, but Reid stopped him, telling him that it was alright. He knew Clarence would need time to process all of this.

“I know that you’re scared, but I promise you I would never harm you. I will give you the space you need right now, but I do insist you do not go out in the night. Given your problems at home, you may sleep in my room for as long as you need.” He turned to Geoffrey and motioned for them to leave. Clarence could do nothing but stand there as they left.

* * *

The two men walked quietly back towards Southwark until Jonathan was reminded of his hunger. Groaning, he looked around to see if there was anything ethical he could eat. McCullum questioned his behavior and he responded. “I used more blood than usual in the fight with Ascalon. A rat should be enough to stave off this hunger.” McCullum looked at him with a disgusted face. “A rat? You enjoy eating those filthy vermin off the streets?”

“Hah! If only that were the case. Their blood tastes like mud, but my body can keep it down like a human’s. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I don’t indulge my hunger more than necessary.” 

“How does that work, anyway? If you get hungry when you’re running out of blood, why not just wait it out? Humans get over anemia with a little rest.” Jonathan smiled, happy that Geoffrey was interested in the topic. The hunter he had known before would have never even been curious. “Vampire physiology is not exactly well researched, but my guess is that our bodies _are_ capable of producing blood in trying times by sacrificing tissues that are replenished after consuming another’s blood. However, because the curse of our hunger is exacerbated while our blood supply is low, most vampires find other sources before that process activates.”

McCullum thought on that for a little. “And when was the last time you fed? How concerned do I need to be right now?”

“I may have...procured some patients’ blood from storage a few nights ago at Pembroke. But now that that source is unavailable, I have to make due with alternatives. Speaking of” He once again began scanning the area for any sign of rats. Despite finding it humorous, McCullum stopped him. “Forget the rat. I’ve got a better idea.” He wasn’t planning on trying it until later, but the opportunity presented itself so perfectly. Reid was confused, but curious. He didn’t question when McCullum steered them towards the hunter’s house, claiming they would need privacy. When they arrived, McCullum hung up his jacket and stood in the center of the room, waiting for Reid to follow suit.

“Right then. Let’s hear it, Geoffrey.” The hunter appraised him for a few moments before slowly rolling up his sleeves and pulling out a gun. Jonathan became rightly nervous, but waited to see where this was going before deciding to bolt out the door. “Your, let’s call it, emotional state tonight has me doubting you have as much control as you claim. That’s all fine for a human, but a vampire that can take on five leeches at once? It’s dangerous.” Jonathan agreed with the sentiment, but not the assessment.

“Be that as it may, I can’t just turn off my emotions. Compassion is what keeps me human.”

“Indeed. Which is why I need to trust you can keep your mind in check. To that end, I’m assigning you some trust building exercises.” As he said that, Geoffrey used his free hand to reach down and grab the knife from the sheath on his leg. Jonathan didn’t like where this was going. “A gun and a knife aren’t exactly an image of trust.” 

The hunter smirked. “Don’t blame me too much. The gun is for my protection. The knife, however…” In a swift motion, Geoffrey made a small cut across his forearm and tossed the knife away. Blood immediately wept from the opening, overpowering Jonathan’s senses. The same sensation he felt earlier flooded his head and he struggled to think clearly. 

“Now drink.”

“Are you insane, Geoffrey?! Drinking directly from you is _more_ than dangerous.”

“This is me saying I trust you, Jonathan. Show me I’m not wrong to. Now hurry up before it falls on the floor.”

_Christ_ , how was he supposed to refuse that? He gave in and fell to a knee to take the arm in his hand. The blood had trickled down to Geoffrey’s palm but he certainly would not let it go to waste. When his tongue met the offered blood, he instantly fell into ecstasy. His eyelids fell shut as his eyes rolled back. Slowly, he lapped the blood, stopping to suck the skin clean every few centimeters as he followed the trail up his arm. He could feel the other shiver as his beard roughly brushed against his skin. When Jonathan reached the source itself, it was as if he had entered paradise. The blood was so much warmer and sweeter directly from the severed vessels. He greedily moved his tongue across the cut to try to swallow more of the nectar. When he realized the platelets were already forming a clot, he ever so lightly used a single fang to press against the neighboring skin, encouraging just a bit more blood to release. He got his wish, and groaned at the taste. The only thought he could form was that this blood was his alone and he would savor it. He let go when he remembered that would require preserving the source. As he came down from his high, he looked up at Geoffrey, breathless.

Geoffrey was similarly breathless as he stared down, both from the blood loss and the experience itself. The blue of Jonathan’s eyes had become a bit more clear and he couldn’t help but get lost in them as the panting man gazed into his own. He put away his gun to bring his hand to the top of Jonathan’s head, gently stroking the hair back as he watched the vampire clean his lips with his tongue.

“Well done” was all he could muster for congratulations. A much bigger problem had unexpectedly presented itself, indicated by the tight feeling in the front of his pants. Geoffrey knew he was fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	7. Chapter 7

Geoffrey left in a rush shortly after his revelation, only spending enough time to tell Reid to expect work tomorrow and watch him hurriedly clean and dress the cut. He hoped to God that the doctor hadn’t picked up on the stiffy in his trousers, but from the needy look Reid had been giving him, he didn’t figure a falling piano would have caught his attention. He really, _really_ didn’t need a sexual epiphany right now. The hunter shuddered as he tried to shove the _sexual_ part of that thought to the background. But who was he kidding, there was no way he could deny that aspect. Sure, Reid was a handsome man, dashing, even, but then again a lot of men were similarly easy on the eyes. Yet Geoffrey had never had one kneel and look up at him pleading with those stupid desperate eyes and stupid perfect beard and that stupid nose- _Damn it, stop!_ He ran a hand over his face in shame. To think after putting on such a strong front he’d get weak-kneed from a man caressing his wound with his tongue in some bloody parody of foreplay. What was supposed to be a simple, albeit dangerous, training program had corrupted him. Hell, he hadn’t even fully trusted the vampire not to get carried away. But if nothing else, he could confidently say Reid had passed with flying colors. His train of thought immediately led him to daydreaming what the next test should be. The rising stiffness in his pants made him groan at himself in annoyance. He had to set aside this newfound perversion for now, lest he scare off Reid when he catches on. As he made his way back to the headquarters, he looked at his arm and guiltily yearned to feel those teeth against his skin again.

* * *

The next night, McCullum stared at the clock in his office, growing impatient at waiting around for the vampire to show. It was already past 8, and while the work tonight wasn’t life-or-death urgent, there was no way he was going to attempt it by himself. Tired of being kept waiting, he gathered the collection of research journals into a box and took it with him as he set out to his house. He had to silence a tiny voice in his mind that suggested Reid had discovered just how much he had enjoyed their ‘training’ and had run away. He dismissed that as soon as it came, far too old to be anxious like a child. Even if the other had caught on, he knew Reid was a gentleman before a coward and would rather bumble around his words than leave without notice. When he arrived, he didn’t bother knocking before he entered, calling out as he walked through the front door.

“Reid, where the hell are you? It’s already after 8.”

The muffled response he received from the other side of the room indicated the bastard was still asleep. McCullum rolled his eyes as he strode over to the table to set down the box of journals and then flicked on a lamp. The dim light that filled the room allowed him to make out the lump curled up on his bed. He idly wondered if all vampires were so lazy about waking up, but somehow he was willing to bet this was just Reid. When he made his way to the bedside to wake him up, he froze at the sight. Reid’s normally swept back hair was tousled from sleep, hanging down in parts that fell across his forehead. More pressingly, the sheets had been pulled back halfway, leaving a very naked upper body for his eyes to feast on. For a doctor, the military had done his body well. It wasn’t as muscled as his own, but he could clearly make out the defined chest and torso. Feeling himself getting too excited, McCullum mentally slapped himself and turned his gaze towards the kitchenette. He tried once more to get the man to wake up, giving the bed a little kick for emphasis.

“C’mon Reid, get off your arse and get to work. I’m not suffering through all this reading by myself.” Now that he was closer, he could understand the muffled speech.

“Five more minutes,” Reid said into the pillow.

“Bollocks, that. You’ll fucking sleep the night away if I don’t prod. Now get up or I’m tossing water on you.”

That got the doctor moving, despite the groans. As he rolled out of bed and stood up next to McCullum, he blushed, suddenly realizing his current state of undress. The hunter appeared unbothered and only walked away to start some tea. Reid put on his trousers and a shirt, not bothering to finish buttoning the top few buttons, and began to look through the box on the table. He apologized sheepishly for having to be woken up as he sat down on the couch. McCullum brushed it off and joined him, pulling out a different journal. He grumbled at the academic language and structure of it, already losing focus from reading the opening abstract. Reid, On the other hand, was engrossed by his text. It had been some time since he had properly gotten to sit down and study any scientific literature, but he easily fell into pace the more he read.

McCullum held no such enthusiasm trying to comprehend what he held in his own hands and was only saved by the sound of the water boiling. Grateful for the momentary excuse, he stood up to finish making the tea. He was surprised when he heard the question from behind.

“Would you pour me a cup as well, please?”

The hunter paused as he finished pouring his cup. He knew vampires were incapable of keeping any actual food down, so he was confused by the request. Though, he supposed Reid was different than anyone he’d ever met. It wouldn’t be the strangest thing he was capable of. “Never heard of a leech that can stomach tea.” Reid gave a small chuckle, apparently finding humor in his ignorance.

“Stomach is perhaps too much credit, but we can still indulge in smells. I’d be hard pressed to call myself an Englishman if I didn’t enjoy the scent of tea.”

Unexpected was the best McCullum could describe that as. Certainly, he hadn’t bothered to learn more about vampires than necessary to use against them. It felt like every day he was growing to see the vampire less as a beast and more the as a man. But with that came a sadness, for he knew what kind of monster the doctor was capable of becoming. It was a possibility he never wanted to see come to fruition, but as he watched Reid take the offered cup and contently breathe it in, he knew it was more than a want. He was resolved to do whatever necessary to prevent that from happening, for multiple reasons. 

Thankfully, Reid had once again become too preoccupied with his reading to notice McCullum’s internal quandary. What he had read so far was largely unrelated to live human experimentation, mostly various inconclusive or failed experiments on different vampire bloods in vitro. Rhodes had tried all sorts of things, even mixing Skal and Ekon blood together in a fruitless endeavor. However, the errata scribbled in the margins of the pages shed some light on the researcher’s motivation. There was a common theme in the comments between experiments. Immortality. Reid couldn’t tell just yet whether someone had tasked Rhodes with such an investigation or if it was personal infatuation, but the research purpose was becoming more and more clear as he read on. 

It would be another thirty minutes before he came across unexpected information. The experiment stuck out among the others due to its lessened scientific scrutiny for some of its details. Most notably, the hypothesis mentioned the use of a blood “blessed by the creator” in passing, as if the reader was expected to know what that meant. DIgging deeper into the analysis, he could only deduce two components of this “purification”: sunlight and a mystery agent to soften the cell walls. The motivation of the experiment was to study the effect that the purified blood would have in the human body, attempting to prolong its regenerative effect with the use of opiates. The journal itself stopped halfway through the data analysis, the conclusion left unfinished. Reid noted the entry was dated only a week ago, meaning this was likely the last project Rhodes performed in his life. It wasn’t much to go on, but it sounded suspiciously similar to the proposed existence of the isolation process used with King Arthur’s blood. Excitedly, he looked up to get the other’s attention, but was bemused by what he saw. McCullum had disassembled a gun on the table and was meticulously cleaning it. And from the look of it, had been for a while. Reid recognized it as one of his own, meaning he had apparently missed the hunter rummaging through his stash of weapons.

“I thought you were going to help me read through these.” 

The other man flinched a bit, startled by sudden break in silence. “Yeah, well I’m not bashing my head to figure out what the hell they say. I was done with that shit two hours ago so I’m keeping useful.”

_Two hours?_ He hadn’t realized how long it had been. Sure enough, the clock read a quarter past ten. It seemed his bad habit of focusing too much on a task had reared its head again. “Well forgive me for not entertaining you, then, but I’ve found something quite interesting.”

The hunter set down the piece in his hand and turned to the doctor. “You’ve got my attention.”

“The good news is there’s no indication of human test subjects other than Rhodes himself, so another vampire epidemic is unlikely. So long as he didn’t somehow spread whatever disease he had, if it was even contagious, we should be able to relax a bit.”

McCullum slouched back against the couch and gave a huff of annoyance. “Just when I could use some leeches to kill. So back to square one, then?”

“That’s the better news. It would appear that Rhodes’s condition itself had to do with the cryptic isolation process. The last experiment mentioned something of a divine blessing to the blood he injected himself with. Unfortunately, the only concrete information in the text is that sunlight is involved in the method. It also vaguely hints of weakening the walls of the red blood cells...somehow, but doesn’t elucidate the specifics.”

“Better than nothing, I guess. But that still leaves much unanswered. I’m more interested _why_ some Brotherhood lackey even knows about it. And why was he acting so crazy? Arthur’s blood never had that kind of effect on me.”

“Hmm...there are a number of possible factors to consider, if the process is indeed the same. In general, either the inputs or process would have to have been different enough to produce an inconsistent result. Both, I’m afraid, would be applicable here. The experiment’s raison d'etre was to extend the duration of the regenerative power. To that end, Rhodes had added opium into the equation. I have no way of knowing how it could have affected the serum, but it would explain his inability to feel pain. As far as his behaviour…” Reid knew it was the most likely possibility, but wished it wasn’t true. “I would surmise the blood that was “blessed” was Lady Ashbury’s. The case with the vials of her blood could technically have fit one more.”

McCullum groaned. Because of course that had something to do with it. How was he supposed to relax with that lingering precariousness? “That is exactly what I didn’t want to hear. Anything else stick out?”

“Actually, yes. It’s merely speculation, but I believe these journals contain an encrypted message, or perhaps a code of some sort. Look here.” Reid held one of the pages up for the hunter to see and pointed to a small inconspicuous symbol in the margin. “To the unassuming eye, it’s merely an idle scribble. But the Brotherhood has a propensity to distribute messages like this. And here, another symbol in this journal, as well.”

“While I agree with your assessment, why exactly do you know how the Brotherhood operates?”

Reid paused, remembering that he had not told McCullum everything he knew about the Brotherhood since the last time he was rather emphatically interrupted. He explained how Usher Talltree had hid a puzzle in a similar manner throughout documents he had written. He recalled how he returned Talltree’s personal journal unread to obtain the missing key to the code. From there, it was straightforward to solve the hidden stone tile puzzle which led to the Dragonbane and a rather compromising memoir. McCullum could hardly believe Temple Church had secret rooms that his men had missed during their investigations, but he supposed it made sense since they turned up so little. He inquired more about the scroll, and what made it compromising. Reid made a squinted face of discomfort but searched it out of his box of belongings.

“There’s not much that can be done about it, but you aren’t going to want to hear it. It concerns the origins of the Brotherhood of Saint Paul’s Stole. More specifically, _who_ started it. The information is rather...damning to their credibility.” He handed the scroll to the other, who began to read it. Reid watched him become more and more irate as he read through it.

“You’re telling me that shit about St. Paul living to one hundred forty-something was because he was a leech? That the whole Brotherhood we split off from was founded by a vampire?” He shook his head, trying to make sense of it all. “Explains why they’re so sympathetic to vampires… but this doesn’t say anything about St. Paul kicking the bucket. And if Talltree wrote the code that led you to this…” His eyes widened comically.

“I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not necessarily true. Talltree only became Primate fifteen years ago. But even if he isn’t St. Paul himself, they may be acquainted.” 

McCullum conceded that he may have been jumping the gun, but it didn’t make him feel much better. Even if the Brotherhood was sympathetic to the struggles vampires face, they were still complicit with the deaths of humans they deemed in appropriate amounts. A lead was better than nothing, however, so he assigned Reid to decipher whatever the symbols meant. Though, it would have to be in secret and without the assistance of the Guard’s experience with the Brotherhood’s texts. Whatever was hidden was obscured for a reason, and with a such a sensitive subject he couldn’t risk information leaking, even within Priwen. He ignored Reid’s scepticism that they even had all of the pieces and that it would take time to solve. If anything nefarious _was_ being prepared, it would certainly require more time to set up.

“It’s all very exciting, though. If we can find out how to replicate the process, we could learn so much about the nature of vampirism in the blood. Rhodes was likely doing the same but made a tragic misstep.”

McCullum had had enough of his optimism. “You’re too naive, Reid. Not everyone has the same noble goals as you.” The doctor looked taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“You’re so focused on finding something that can help that you’ve overlooked the original purpose of the blessing. It’s a weapon, Reid, and one that holds more power than humans should have. Whoever controls that process controls power.” With the current evidence, he was more confident in his nagging fear. “What do you think would happen if someone mass produced this blood? They could control a nearly invincible army, unhindered by the weaknesses of vampires. That possibility should be our main concern. Especially now with the gap in power since we destabilized Ascalon. If the Brotherhood is looking at improving the purification process, they’re likely to become a less than neutral party.”

Reid was uncomfortable with that prospect. If that were indeed the case, the users of the blood wouldn’t need to feed on humans. The blood of hate had corrupted Rhodes, but if different blood was used, they would be sane. Did they really have the right to kill people? McCullum chastised him again for being so simple-minded. With a void for control over London, the Brotherhood could seize power that couldn’t be challenged by humans. And even though Priwen’s goal was to keep Britain safe by elimination of vampires, their history with the Brotherhood suggests the responsibility fell on them. If they needed to fight humans, so be it.

While he wasn’t happy about it, he agreed with the logic. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t just fought in a war, anyway. But all the talk about fighting reminded him of something he wanted to bring up. “I’ve been thinking about last night.” McCullum’s heart skipped a beat as he tried to remain unphased by the comment. “I ended up relying too much on powers that heavily consume my blood. My physical prowess, however, does not suffer to the same extent. That being said, I admit I am a bit...amateurish with melee weaponry. It would behoove me to learn proper swordsmanship. Would you be willing to assist?”

“Hah! Amateur would be giving you too much credit! You should have seen the way you flailed that stupid hacksaw at me when we fought. Like watching a kid with a tree branch.” Reid frowned, but resisted the urge to remind him who won that fight, considering he wanted his help. “A shame really, you’ve even got a damn fine replica of the Dragonbane in your armory.”

“It’s not an armory, and it’s not a replica. I told you it was in the secret chamber along with the scroll.” Silence filled the room as McCullum blankly stared at Reid. When he realized Reid wasn’t joking, McCullum made a fumbling dash to the other side of the room to grab the sword. Reid could hear him grumbling about stupid rookies holding onto things they shouldn’t be. He had to admit that Geoffrey could be rather cute sometimes. He gave the hunter a few more moments to inspect the blade before interrupting. “So is that a yes or a no?”

“Yeah, yeah, I will. But I’m keeping this.”

“What? It’s mine! You can’t just take it without asking.” The hunter responded petulantly, “You can have it back when you can wield it properly. It’s wasted on you right now.” Reid begrudgingly agreed. At least he had agreed to help. 

Since it didn’t seem much more would be revealed without further study, McCullum finished putting Reid’s gun back together and left him to deciphering the message. Before he left, he mentioned that Reid should investigate at headquarters. That way he could take care of other business while keeping an eye on him and the other men could get used to his presence. 

It was a reasonable request, so he didn’t complain. It would also mean he would be available to assist in medical emergencies. _No time like the present_ , he thought as he gathered what he would need and headed after McCullum.

* * *

The next few days flew by largely uneventful. Reid fell into a routine of reporting to headquarters and settling into McCullum’s office. However, he had made little progress on deciphering the message hidden in Rhodes’s works. There was simply too much speculation on the relationship between the symbols. In the worst case, there _was_ no relation and he was missing a major key to understanding the puzzle. He had already gotten McCullum’s permission to re-search the now abandoned laboratory, but nothing new had come up. He even started searching through what texts the Guard had on the Brotherhood for any possible connections. It was a brick wall and he didn’t want to bang his head against it any more.

Fortunately, being at headquarters afforded him plenty of distractions when he needed a break. For starters, McCullum was good for conversation. That is, when he wasn’t busy. He had his hands full dealing with increased surveillance on the Brotherhood. Reid also gave a compulsory check on the self-inflicted cut he had drank from. It had healed better than expected, only leaving the faintest discoloration, unlike some of the other scars McCullum had elsewhere. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for allowing the wound to heal so well.

The medics also needed help from time to time with minor complications, and Reid was happy to be of use. Surprisingly, the patients were also agreeable to his presence. He was able to treat them with less pushback the more of them he attended to. “Warming up” would be too generous to call it, but the atmosphere was as neutral as a typical doctor’s appointment. However, after four days, that would change. When he entered Priwen headquarters that night, a group of six hunters approached him. Despite their numbers, they did not appear hostile. Among the men, Reid could pick out a few familiar faces, including the man he had performed surgery on nights before. Hesitantly, they each introduced themselves and explained that Oliver had spread word of Reid’s service in the Great War. They made small talk by exchanging their deployments and placements throughout the continent over the last few years, and agreed to spend more time later sharing war stories. The men were understandably sceptical that a vampire could hold any sort of moral code, but after watching him for a few days, and with McCullum’s word, they considered revising their opinion of him. That got Reid thinking again, having forgotten his earlier curiosity.

“I must admit I am curious about that. Any of you would have shot me on sight in the street not a day earlier. What exactly did McCullum tell all of you before I started working here?” A couple of the men laughed before one replied.

“He said some doctor he knew had begged on his knees for work, and he caved ‘cause he owed him a favor. We knew something was up when he threatened to hang us if we laid a hand on him, but didn’t actually know it was a leech ‘til you showed up. There was lots of fuss going ‘round about why the boss would owe a leech any favors.” That was...not how he remembered it, but he didn’t want to call into question McCullum’s credibility. “He’s convinced you’re some kind of exception, that you don’t even kill humans. Still don’t really believe it, but hey, nothing’s happened so far.” 

Reid gave them a small smile. “McCullum would not have brought me here if he thought it would endanger any of you. And if by some chance my control _does_ come into question, he will be the first to know.” He expected they would never trust him to the extent that Geoffrey did - there was something special about him that Reid couldn’t quite place - but he appreciated the amicable conversation. They then parted so they all could return to work. Reid was quite pleased with how well the night had started off. He set off towards the usual door to check in with McCullum.

When he met the hunter in his office, the man sprang up from his chair with a broad smile plastered on his face. The hunter moved to quickly grab a pair of swords that were leaning against the wall and tossed one to him. Snapping out of his momentary confusion, Reid sent McCullum a smug smile of his own. “Of the two of us, I would have thought I would be the more excited about training.”

“Are you kidding? I finally get enough free time to kick your arse so I’m going to savour it. This is payback for last time.” They spoke as they headed outside to a walled off portion of the courtyard that served as a makeshift training grounds. “Need I remind you who it was that started it in the first place? I seem to recall trying to talk you down.”

“I can still be mad about it. You only won because of your stupid leechy powers. Which, by the way, none of that tonight. We’re going through the basics.” Both men took off their coats and set them aside on a nearby bench, McCullum even took off his scarf in anticipation of the workout. When the hunter turned around, Reid had a hard time keeping his eyes off skin of the newly exposed neck and chest. He was a bit annoyed by the imbalance of knowledge they had over each others’ bodies. Reid had unwittingly exposed much of himself when he was woken up, so he rationalized his desire to see more of McCullum by that fault.

The more they trained, the more clear it became to Reid how awful he was with a sword. Because he was intentionally restricting his agility and strength, his pitiful form crumbled at nearly every strike McCullum made. He would have been discouraged if not for the constant smile McCullum wore. Even if it was because he took pleasure in beating Reid around, the doctor still felt privileged to see it. And it wasn’t as if he was just being bullied. McCullum did take the time to show him how to hold himself and his weapon. They kept at it for hours, taking the occasional break for the human’s rehydration. Despite how effortlessly he could toss Reid around, the hunter still had a visible layer of sweat across his face and chest after being active for so long. They called it off a bit early, but Reid didn’t feel much like working for the few remaining hours of darkness. McCullum found that agreeable and allowed him to be dismissed. As such, they gathered their discarded clothing and parted ways for the night.

* * *

When he was back at his lodgings, Reid disrobed himself to wash off before bed. As he did so, something red fell out of the coat he had carried folded on his arm. Curious, he picked it up for inspection only to realize it was Geoffrey’s scarf. Taking a closer look at the coat, he realized they had both taken the coat. Neither had noticed since they didn’t bother putting them back on after training. He thought nothing of it as he rinsed himself off. After all, he would see the hunter tomorrow as usual and could return them then. He hung the coat in the usual spot but was fixated by the scarf he grasped in his hand. _Well, it’s only for tonight…_ he thought to himself as he gave into his guilty pleasure and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the longer period between updates. I took a week off from writing.  
> Plot heavy chapter, I know. We just need to get over this hurdle to get to the end.  
> This chapter also assumes reader knowledge of the side quest to obtain the true Dragonbane.  
> Next chapter is more...domestic? It's more fun, at least.


End file.
